


Unravel

by RoseSakura



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, Angst, Blood and Violence, Daichi is captain of the captains, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort, I mean there are zombies here so, Injury, M/M, Multiple Pairings, Multiple Perspectives, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slow Burn, Suga is honestly such a mom, but the tags and rating are here just in case, everyone is over protective of everyone, except replace Kenma with Iwa, i dont know what im doing, it's not very graphic though because I do not like blood and whatnot, kind of, my tags are a mess i am so sorry, someone in the comments pointed this out to me so I thought I would tag it, the pretty setters stick together, there are like no adults in this fic, this is not a really sad story
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-31
Updated: 2019-05-01
Packaged: 2019-05-16 10:55:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 56,707
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14810001
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RoseSakura/pseuds/RoseSakura
Summary: Oikawa’s head snapped up and his gaze landed on Akaashi. “Aka-chan?” he asked before his eyes narrowed. “What did you do?”“Bo didn’t do anything,” Kuroo said sharply, coming immediately to Bokuto’s defense. “He’s helping him. Now come on, we don’t have all day.”Oikawa shook his head again. “I don’t want help from you,” he whispered angrily. “We don’t have time to be kidnapped Suga-chan!”“Look,” Kuroo said, not denying Oikawa’s accusation of kidnapping. “Either you limp your way over to that truck with your friend, or I’m gonna throw you over my shoulder and carry you there. It’s your choice.”-----When Bokuto & co. end up in a fight with another group of survivors, they take pity on them and offer help. Nobody trusts each other and the apocalypse is the worst time ever to develop a crush on somebody. But then again, Bokuto's never really been one to do things the easy way.





	1. It Will Always Be The Same

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!
> 
> So I wanted to try and write a multi chapter fic and this fandom doesn't have enough zombie aus so
> 
> We'll see how this goes - I'm a little nervous so let me know if you like it and would like me to continue writing it, yeah?
> 
> The title of the whole story comes from the Tokyo Ghoul opening since I listened to that lot while writing this haha. And the title of the first chapter is from Kodaline's "Brother."
> 
> Chapter Warnings: I swear a little bit and there's minor blood and zombie violence.
> 
> Thanks for reading!

“Hey hey, hey, I found some batteries!”

Bokuto laughed as Kuroo literally let out a cheer on the other end of the walkie-talkie. _“Alright Bo,”_ he congratulated, his voice crackling slightly over the receiver. _“Are they the same kind we need to repower these walkie-talkies?”_

Bokuto flipped over the device in his hand and shrugged, clicking a button to reply. “Ahh I don’t really know…”

 _“Hopefully they work,”_ Kenma’s soft voice came out this time, making Bokuto frown. He looked around the abandoned drug store he was in. Some of the shelves were knocked down but overall, the place didn’t look like it was destroyed that much. Shoving the batteries into the backpack he had on, he responded. “Hopefully, but I don’t see why they wouldn’t.”

Kenma huffed. _“Water damage, they could be dented, they could be the wrong size, they could be dead.”_

 _“Don’t be so negative Kitten,”_ Kuroo scolded lightly as Bokuto made his way through the store, searching for any other materials that were salvageable and could be useful to them. He found a couple bottles of unopened water, some stale snack food, a blanket, and a couple bottles of pain relievers to add to his backpack. 

_“Being overly optimistic won’t help anything,”_ Kenma mumbled, but his voice was drowned out by Kuroo, calling out _“Hey Bo, I’m coming to meet you in that store. Stay where you are and don’t be alarmed because it’s just little ol’ me.”_

“You got it,” Bokuto responded cheerfully, moving out of the back of the store but still staying away from the large windows at the front of the drugstore. 

He was glad Kuroo warned him of his approach because it was growing darker out and the less visibility they have, the more dangerous it gets to be wandering around looking for supplies. Plus, it wasn’t just Bokuto out on this run. Kuroo and Kenma were with him and he was always much more worried when there were other people involved. Travelling with a group had its benefits but it also meant that Bokuto had to be concerned for not only his safety, but his friends as well. 

It wasn’t long before he caught sight of Kuroo running across the parking lot and heading towards him. He was noticeably out of breath, which was rare for Kuroo since he was in pretty good shape. He wretched the door open quickly and immediately hunched over, resting his hands on his knees.

“The dead,” Kuroo panted out before Bokuto was able to ask his question. “Around the side of the building. I tried to lure them away from here but I don’t know if I did it. We should probably hurry.”

“Alright,” Bokuto said, keeping any amount of fear out of his voice. He knew that if Kuroo knew he was panicked, he would absolutely lose his mind. It was bad when both of them panicked at the same time. He was clearly worried about something other than a couple of zombies roaming around though, and Bokuto had a pretty good idea what it was but he wasn’t about to ask. “That’s fine. We can finish up gathering supplies here and then head home.” 

Kuroo nodded tensely as his breathing returned to normal. “Okay,” he mumbled as he passed Bokuto in search of food. Bokuto ran his fingers up through his hair instead of releasing his sigh as he followed his friend down the aisle. 

They had managed to find a significant amount of supplies, so much so that the bags they had were packed pretty full. There was more supplies that was available to take but they were unable to carry it. “We could bring the van around,” Kuroo suggested. “And then just throw it all in there.”

Bokuto nodded his agreement. “Sounds like a plan.”

Reaching in his pocket, Kuroo pulled out his walkie-talkie and clicked the button. “Hey Kitten, we need to bring the van around and load some stuff into it. Can you drive it over here or should I come get it?”

His finger left the button and he waited for Kenma’s response. Bokuto could see the exact moment that the panic set in and he prepared himself to chase after Kuroo. 

“Kitten?” Kuroo tried again, his voice only shaking slightly. “Kitten what’s up?”

“Kuroo,” Bokuto started but his friend only held up a hand as he brought the walkie-talkie closer to his ear. Bokuto fell silent and stopped himself from mentioning from how pointless the action was.

“Kenma answer me,” Kuroo demanded. He was already shouldering his bag and heading towards the exit with a hand resting on the machete attached to his belt.

“Kuroo,” Bokuto tried again, and when he wasn’t interrupted, he continued. “There’s a ton of reasons he isn’t answering right now so don’t think it’s the worst.”

“Like what Bo?” Kuroo spit out as he wretched the door open and checked for any zombies.

“Like his batteries could be dead?” Bokuto suggested. “Or maybe he’s looking for something or accidentally broke it?”

Kuroo nodded jerkily but Bokuto could tell that he didn’t really believe him. Kenma was Kuroo’s weakness; he completely lost his mind whenever the small boy was involved. This wouldn’t be the first time Kuroo freaked out over a situation only for them to find out that Kenma was perfectly fine. Bokuto had seen it plenty of times over the past few months since he'd been with them. 

If he was being perfectly honest with himself, Bokuto didn't really think any of his suggestions were what actually happened either, but he also didn't think that Kenma was hurt or dead; the kid was far too smart for that to happen and Bokuto maintained his belief that Kenma would be the one to outlive them all.

They exited the store and paused before turning the corner, not wanting to accidentally run in to any of the zombies Kuroo initially tried to lead away.

A loud crack suddenly sounded, startling the two friends.

“Did you hear that?” Bokuto asked, craning his neck around the corner. “That sounded like a gunshot?”

Kuroo’s face twisted in confusion before falling back into a look of increased panic. “Kenma,” he mumbled before sprinting out from around the corner. 

“Shit, Kuroo, wait!” Bokuto exclaimed, scrambling to run after him. 

When the van came into view, both of them froze. Zombies had surrounded it, clawing uselessly at the windows as they attempted to get inside. Bokuto also noticed a couple of unmoving bodies on the ground, supposedly from Kenma’s self-defence. Bokuto wasn't particularly bothered - he knew that Kenma was relatively safe in the van and now that he and Kuroo had showed up, the zombies would be no problem. Kuroo didn't seem to share his view though, as he let out a growl and raised his arm, aiming his gun and preparing to fire.

“Kuroo, wait!” Bokuto yelled again but he was a bit too late as Kuroo fired off a shot. Bokuto’s eyes widened in horror as the bullet missed its target and embedded itself in the metal of the van. He gripped his friend’s wrist and jerked it down, earning him a death glare from Kuroo.

“Use your blade or else you risk shooting through the truck and hitting Kenma,” he snapped, pulling his own knife out of its holder. The loud noise from Kuroo’s gun had drawn the attention of some of the zombies and they were now headed towards the two of them. Ignoring Kuroo’s look of horrific realization, Bokuto surged forward and plunged his knife into the brain of the closest zombie. He did his best not to wince at the blood the flowed over his hand. 

There was slight growling next to him and he prepared himself to whip to the side to take out another zombie but before he was able, Kuroo flashed by him, swinging his machete cleanly into the undead, easily killing it for good. Satisfied that Kuroo was now aware and paying attention, Bokuto moved forward.

They were able to quickly dispatch of all the zombies roaming around, effectively emptying the parking lot and making it safe for them to approach their van. 

“Kenma,” Kuroo called out, desperate to ensure that his boyfriend was alright. Bokuto hoped that Kuroo didn’t notice the bullet hole he made in the van with his shot. The doors squeaked slightly as Kenma pushed them open, his face peeking out. If he hadn’t known him for so long, Bokuto would be surprised that his face looked more like he was simply bored as opposed to the fear most people would probably have felt at being surrounded by zombies while trapped in a van. But Bokuto had seen Kenma appear pretty unshakeable, even in very dire looking situations, so he wasn't surprised by the lack of emotion Kenma was showing now.

“Kenma,” Kuroo said again, this time his voice soft with relief. Bokuto smiled and tactfully averted his eyes to check and make sure they wouldn’t be attacked again as Kuroo rushed forward, gathering Kenma in his arms in a rough hug. “Gods, are you okay?!”

“Which one of you idiots shot at me?”

The question snapped Bokuto's gaze back to the two in front of him and he had to hold back a laugh at how quickly the look of relief dropped from Kuroo’s face. It wasn't really a funny thing - it was possible that Kuroo could have hit Kenma and that would have caused about a million different problems - but the apocalypse and zombie outbreak has an uncanny way of turning very dangerous and serious situations into something to laugh at. Besides, he figured if Kenma was able to be this calm about it, he must not have been in any real danger of being hit. Gripping him by the shoulders, Kuroo pushed Kenma back in order to look at him more fully. 

“I’m so sorry Kenma,” Kuroo said as he shook his head. “I – I saw they were around the truck and I wasn’t thinking. I didn’t hit you or anything, right?”

“No,” he mumbled in response. “You missed.”

Bokuto held back his groan. If Kenma had just denied it, then maybe Kuroo could forgive himself, but by saying that he missed, that implied Kuroo had been close to hitting him in the first place, which meant that he would feel even worse about himself. 

As expected, Kuroo’s face dropped into a look of horror and he swallowed hard, pushing Kenma away from him gently. “I’m so sorry.”

Kenma shrugged in response, apparently unshaken by the experience. “It’s okay.”

Before Kuroo could snap “It seriously is not okay, Kenma!” like he so obviously wanted to, Bokuto cut across. “What happened Kenma?” 

He shrugged again. “Nothing," he answered, ignoring Kuroo's look of annoyance and outrage at being ignored when he was being so sincere. "They started swarming so I shot a couple of them but then I thought the noise would just attract more. They can’t open a van so I closed the doors and waited for you guys.”

“Those were your shots we heard?” Kenma nodded. “Well that’s good,” Bokuto said. “That means there’s probably nobody else around here, but we should still probably head back.”

“Daichi will be worried,” Kenma agreed. He looked over at Kuroo, who had been unusually silent during their conversation. Nudging him with his foot to get his attention, he asked “Can we go?”

He nodded stiffly and moved to go towards the front of the van but Bokuto stopped him. “I’ll drive,” he told him softly as Kenma crawled back into the van. Kuroo just nodded again when Bokuto handed him his bag, wordlessly telling him not to argue. 

As they pulled out of the parking lot they were in, Bokuto’s eyes shot the rear view mirror, where he could see Kenma crawling over to curl himself into Kuroo’s side.

“I’m okay,” he said softly, but not soft enough for Bokuto not to hear him. “You don’t have to pout about it.”

Kuroo glared at him. “I could’ve shot you Kitten,” he replied just as quietly.

“Yeah but you missed,” Kenma said again. Kuroo made a “Tch” sound and Kenma rolled his eyes. “Look, it’s not like the bullet just missed me or anything - you were a ways off. I wasn’t in any real danger.” 

“Okay but what if I had shot in a different area?” he asked desperately. "There's enough things in this world trying to kill us right now, I don't need to be classified as one of them."

“You didn’t kill me though, so there’s no point in worrying about it.” Kenma’s tone was still soft, but there was an element of finality that Bokuto rarely heard. Kuroo recognized it as well because he just sighed instead of responding, leaning his head down to rest against Kenma’s. Bokuto was surprised that Kenma didn’t pull away, but he supposed he was able to recognize how upset Kuroo was and he knew that staying close to him would calm him down. It usually did. 

Bokuto was terrible at keeping track of time so he didn’t know how far out they were from their base, but it was totally dark by the time they got back there. He pulled the van slowly around to the back of the motel, parking it so it was partially hidden from view if anyone came by. It was rare for there to be people around their base area, but Daichi was always really cautious. 

Kuroo seemed a bit more like himself as he climbed out of the van. He tossed Bokuto his bag and sent him an easy grin as Kenma hopped out behind him, grabbing on to the sleeve of Kuroo’s jacket. 

“Kuroo?” Daichi’s voice called out softly. “Bokuto? Is that you?”

As they approached the doors to the motel they saw Daichi standing out front with Asahi behind him. “Yeah Daichi, it’s us,” Kuroo confirmed. Asahi breathed a sigh of relief as they all headed inside.

“Hey hey hey,” Bokuto greeted as the door shut behind them. “Are we later than expected?”

“Not really,” Daichi answered. “Is anyone hurt?” 

“Nope,” Bokuto answered cheerfully, but he didn’t miss the way Kuroo’s eyes flickered over to Kenma, seemingly checking to make sure he actually was okay. 

Asahi breathed another sigh as Daichi said “Good, Asahi was worried.”

“Asahi is always worried,” Kuroo said, waving off the concerned look the man still wore. “We’re all good. Besides, you’re the one who’s hurt. Shouldn’t you be resting?”

Daichi narrowed his eyes as Asahi piped up from behind him. “Yes! Thank you! See Daichi, even Kuroo thinks you should be resting.”

“Were there any problems?” Daichi asked instead, turning his attention to Bokuto, clearly wanting to talk to somebody that wouldn't bring up his injury.

“Nah everything was pretty abandoned, we barely even ran into any zombies,” Bokuto added.

Daichi nodded as his eyes travelled to the bags that Kuroo and Bokuto were both carrying. “Did you find any useful supplies?”

Bokuto nodded enthusiastically as he launched into his description of all the stuff he was able to collect from the abandoned store. As he pulled out the medicine and blankets he found, Daichi’s eyes lit up with excitement.

“This is great,” he said with carefully concealed enthusiasm. “It’s starting to get colder, so we’ll definitely be needing stuff like this.” 

“There might be more places in that area that have food and stuff left,” Kuroo said as they all began to head deeper inside the motel towards where their rooms were. “If we send more people then we’ll be able to bring more stuff back.”

Daichi nodded. “Alright. We’ll set up another run soon then.”

Bokuto perked up. “Can I go?” he asked immediately.

Daichi gave him a funny look. “Sure you can, if you want.”

It was weird, Bokuto supposed, that he was always so enthusiastic about going out on supply runs. It was dangerous and it wasn’t guaranteed that you’d come back. But Bokuto found being stuck in the motel just as bad sometimes. Sure, the element of danger was eliminated, but there wasn’t much for him to do. He didn’t like to complain, because being bored usually meant being safe, but he couldn’t help it. 

Daichi informed him that he would tell him about more details later once he sorted everything out as he finally relented to Asahi’s pestering and disappeared into his room. Bokuto followed behind Kuroo, who still had Kenma gripping onto the sleeve of his sweater, down the hallway to their rooms. He split off from Kuroo and Kenma as he reached the door to his room, throwing his bag down next to his bed and closing the door behind him. 

His room was pretty empty, the only thing that was really distinctively his was the couple of volleyballs he had collected from his trips and the collection of knives he had in the drawer of the bedside table. 

Carefully pulling off the knives he was holding, Bokuto shrugged off his sweater and relaxed against his bed. Picking up one of the volleyballs and laying back down on his bed, Bokuto began his nightly routine of keeping the ball up through carefully controlled tosses. Every now and then, a group of people would use one of the large conference rooms this motel had as a make-shift gym and would have volleyball games. It gave them a sense of normalcy and something to look forward to. Although he wasn’t really setter material, tossing the ball every night helped to lull him to sleep.

As his arms began to feel tired from being raised so much, he let the ball tumble softly to the floor before closing his eyes and easily falling asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This sounds very rushed to me, especially at the end and it hasn't been edited by anyone so just bear with me.
> 
> Let me know if you enjoyed it and want it to continue. I appreciate every comment and kudos.
> 
> <3


	2. This House Don't Feel Like Home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! 
> 
> This was a quick update mainly because I had the first two chapters almost done before I posted in the first place haha  
> It's a shorter chapter and hasn't been read by anyone so if there are any mistakes, I'll correct them once I give it a read over in a couple days - for some reason it's so much easier for me to catch them when I read it after I post 
> 
> Chapter title comes from X Ambassadors "Unsteady" which is a song I absolutely love right now 
> 
> Chapter Warnings: I swear, but I swear in pretty much every chapter so I mean ... I think that's it though, no violence or anything
> 
> Thanks for reading!

The coughing wasn’t even that loud but Akaashi could still hear it from down the hall. As usual, Oikawa had left the door cracked open so that Iwaizumi could enter quietly. However, that meant that sounds entered much easier. Sighing, Akaashi tried to force himself to focus on the book he was reading. It was filled with old poetry and he had read it at least five times since everything had gone to shit. At this point, it served more as a mindless distraction rather than actual entertainment.

Akaashi winced as a particularly violent cough made its way through the door. His eyes focused on the small sliver of hallway he could see, unable to help himself even though he knew he wouldn’t be able to see anything.

“Sorry Aka-chan,” Oikawa sighed out. Akaashi shifted his eyes over to Oikawa who was propped up on his elbows on his bed. “I know you hate it when the door is open and you can hear all the sickness and everything.”

Akaashi shrugged. It wasn’t Oikawa’s fault that a lot of people in the compound were getting sick. With the lack of medicine and all these people stuck together in one small area, it was bound to happen. The real problem is the way they tried to stop the spread of the sickness. They were given even less time to spend with people who they weren’t roommates with. This wasn’t a big deal for Akaashi, since he didn’t have a lot of friends at the compound. But Oikawa was struggling with his distance from Iwaizumi. 

Akaashi wasn’t even sure how he ended up being roommates with Oikawa in the first place. He joined this particular group of survivors after both Oikawa and Iwaizumi had. After a short time of observing their interactions, it was easy to see they were close. He supposed his assigned roommate had something to do with their leader’s stupid rules and his apparent obsession with stopping relationships that could threaten his authority.

As if Oikawa read his mind, he added “I hate this. I hate that they force us apart.”

“Be careful,” Akaashi admonished, glancing uneasily at the door. “If they hear you, it’ll be worse.” 

Groaning in frustration, Oikawa threw his head back. “I know, I know.”

“You say that a lot,” Akaashi said, closing his book and giving Oikawa a pointed look. “But you still continue to make comments that have the potential to get us killed.”

“I won’t get us killed,” Oikawa mumbled, but he didn’t sound very sure. “If we could leave here, then it wouldn’t be such a problem. Let’s just get up and go.” Akaashi raised an eyebrow at him and was about the respond when the door was pushed open.

“Knock knock,” came a soft voice from outside that definitely wasn’t Iwaizumi. Oikawa seemed to agree, as he let out a loud sigh and fell back on his bed. But Suga’s voice was followed by a gruff “I’m here too Shittykawa, don’t be so dramatic.”

“Iwa-chan~,” Oikawa called out, immediately sitting up and grinning while Akaashi greeted both Iwaizumi and Suga as they entered the room. They were wearing surgical masks to protect them from the sickness and clothes that did not look at though they were getting ready to relax for the night. The sight made Akaashi uneasy. “What are you doing here with Mr. Refreshing? As much as I like you Suga-chan, I don’t think the three of us will fit on my bed to cuddle.”

“Katashi wants to see us,” Iwaizumi said, moving to yank Oikawa up from the bed by his collar. This proclamation sobered Oikawa up immediately and he sat up stiffly on the bed.  


“What? Why?” Akaashi glanced at Suga, who looked less at ease than he usually did. “What does he want?”

“Who the hell knows,” Iwaizumi grumbled, leaning against the wall at the foot of Oikawa’s bed and pulling his mask down around his neck. His pose looked relaxed, but the visible tension in his muscles suggested otherwise. “But I’d really rather not keep him waiting so get your ass up and let’s go.” 

“Suga-san,” Akaashi said, rising from the bed and making his way over to the silver haired man. “What’s going on?” He was unable to keep the slight edge of panic out of his voice and he knows Suga noticed it. He smiled kindly at him and shrugged. 

“I’m sure it’s nothing serious,” Suga assured, although he sounded as though he didn’t really believe that. “We’ve done nothing wrong, so there’s no reason for him to be angry.”

“We’ve been planning to ditch this place though,” Iwaizumi pointed out. They all snapped their gazes to look at him but his eyes were locked on Oikawa. “Don’t think we couldn’t hear your stupid musings from the hallway Shittykawa,” he grumbled, narrowing his eyes. “If it were anyone else who heard that, we’d all be dead.”

 _There’s still a chance of that,_ Akaashi thought morbidly. Nothing good ever happened when Katashi asked to see people specifically.

Oikawa looked slightly ashamed at the scolding and Suga stepped in to try and reassure him. “It could be nothing,” he stated firmly, optimistically. “But we won’t know unless we go meet him, so I suggest we leave now.”

Iwaizumi grunted in response as the four of them made their way out of the bedroom and down the hallway. It was difficult for Akaashi to quell his rising panic. The leader of their compound was fierce and violent, something that made him very well equipped for this apocalyptic world. However, he was just as aggressive with the undead as he was to the people that lived in his compound, and his unpredictable behaviour unnerved Akaashi. He had already dealt with a leader that was less than kind and that situation hadn’t ended well for him. 

Casting his eyes down, Akaashi caught a glance of Iwaizumi’s hand firmly planted on the small of Oikawa’s back. Noticing the gesture made a rare flare of envy arise within him. He himself wasn’t that close to either of them or Suga. A disastrous attempt at trusting people at the beginning of the apocalypse had completely backfired, leaving him stranded and alone. Akaashi had made a promise to himself that he would maintain distance from people from now on in order to prevent that sort of thing from happening again. He moved his gaze over to Suga, who looked more worried with each step he took.

When they approached the door to Katashi’s room, Suga stepped forward and explained what they were doing. The two guys waiting outside the door nodded and stepped aside, allowing Suga to waltz in more confidently that Akaashi suspected he felt. He trailed after him followed by Iwaizumi and Oikawa. 

There were a few other people in the room, but Akaashi didn’t recognize any of their faces. He didn’t let his gaze linger long enough on them anyways; his eyes were focused on the man in front of them who was smiling in a very unsettling way.

“Katashi-san,” Suga started politely, inclining his head as he addressed him. The other three mirrored his movements as Suga continued. “We were told you wanted to see the four of us?”  


“Ahh Sugawara,” Katashi said, leaning forward. “Do I not even get a hello?”

Suga stiffened slightly and Akaashi knew he was afraid he had said the wrong thing. Katashi only seemed to be joking though, as he continued speaking without any real action.  


“Straight to business I guess. I’m sure you’ve noticed by now that we’ve got a sickness running through our base,” he continued. Suga nodded slowly.

“Which is nothing we can’t handle,” Katashi added confidently. “And normally, this wouldn’t be a problem except that we’re starting to run a little low on supplies. And I thought maybe you would be up to going out and looking for some more medicine.” 

It was tempting for Akaashi to let out his sigh of relief, but something stopped him. All he wanted was for them to go on a run for supplies? There had to be something else; he wouldn’t have dragged them all down to this room if that was all he wanted.

“Of course,” Suga said, speaking for all for them. “When would you like us to leave?”

“You can leave immediately,” Katashi said. “The sooner we get everyone healthy again the better, don’t you think? And of course, you’ll have to travel a bit farther because we’ve already searched all the buildings around this area that could hold such supplies. That means it’ll be dangerous. So I’ll send you out with a couple others just to be safe yeah?”  


Some of the guys standing around the room raised their guns in acknowledgement, which did nothing to ease Akaashi’s apprehension. 

Suga nodded and Akaashi knew that he was eager to get out of here and complete the task that was set out for them. But there was nothing they were able to do until they were properly dismissed. 

“You know…” Katashi started, snapping Akashi’s attention to him again. “I’ve been thinking that maybe not all four of you need to go out and look for medicine. You could handle it with just three people, right?”

Akaashi felt Iwaizumi tense up beside him and Suga became very still on his other side. _I knew it,_ Akaashi thought. _I knew there was a catch._

“I’m thinking that one of you should stay here, any volunteers?”

The four of them exchanged panicked looks, unsure exactly what to do about this unexpected request. He was honestly asking for volunteers, right? Akaashi bit his lip as he thought. 

Logically, he figured he should be the one to stay here. Oikawa and Iwaizumi couldn’t really handle being separated and Akaashi didn’t see any reason they should have to be. Suga had gone through enough in his journey of survival before he reached Katashi’s group. This opportunity to leave the compound was their opportunity to escape, but they couldn’t do that if one of them was left behind… could they?

Before Akaashi was able to step forward, one of the men surrounding them grabbed at Iwaizumi’s arm and jerked him forward. Oikawa made a small noise of protest but at Iwaizumi’s glare he stayed still and silent. 

“Ah Iwaizumi,” Katashi said, a grin forming on his face. “How kind of you to volunteer.”

Iwaizumi gritted his teeth and Akaashi was terrified to note that he looked a little frightened. Iwaizumi had been pretty unshakeable throughout the whole time Akaashi had known him; the only time fear crept into his eyes was when he was worried about Oikawa. To see this look on his face was unsettling, to say the least.

Oikawa appeared to be frozen, his face slowly falling into a look of pure horror. Since he was unable to respond, Suga stepped up. “W-wait,” he stammered. “Is this really necessary? Surely you can’t –”

Before he could finish his sentence, Katashi surged forward, grabbing a fistful of Suga’s shirt and bringing him close to his face. “Suga!” Akaashi exclaimed in panic as Iwaizumi jerked his arm a couple times, trying to break the grip the guy had on him.

“Don’t think people haven’t noticed your scheming,” he said dangerously, voice low. Akaashi’s blood ran cold at the accusation and he heard Oikawa inhale sharply at his side. _We’re fucked._

“You aren’t as sly as you think you are,” Katashi continued. “Did you know that Sugawara? The way that you four avoid the rest of the group, always huddled together, sneaking into each other’s rooms.” He paused to let go of Suga’s shirt, pushing him backward into Akaashi, who caught him before he stumbled to the ground. 

“I can’t imagine why you’d want to leave such a place of protection,” Katashi said, crossing his arms. “But if you want to go out, I can arrange that. You just better make sure you come back,” he said, glancing back to look at Iwaizumi. “For his sake.”

Akaashi was thoroughly impressed at Oikawa’s composure but he knew it was cracking. His eyes locked with Iwaizumi, who gave him the smallest shake of his head. Akaashi felt his eyes widen; was Iwaizumi telling them not to come back for him? 

_He’s fooling himself if he thinks Oikawa would ever go along with that._

“You three can start getting ready to head out and go in the morning. I’ll send a couple more people with you to help out. Iwaizumi can hang out with me until you’ve returned.”  


His instructions left no room for arguments. “Y-yes sir,” Suga mumbled out before turning and walking towards the door, Akaashi and Oikawa following behind him.

As they reached the door, Katashi’s final comment confirmed what Akaashi already feared was the implication.

“Let me make myself clear. If you don’t come back, I will kill him.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I hope nobody was super excited for the Oikawa/Iwa relationship since I just ripped them apart....
> 
> Anyways so we got to hear from Akaashi this time - I'm not sure if people like alternating perspectives but that's sort of the direction I'm headed in
> 
> Just a fun fact about Katashi's name - basically I needed an original Japanese name so I used this one because(I think) it means something like "hard" or "firm" and when I went to google it, I found out it is the name of some yakuza member from the Teen Wolf tv show which I thought was pretty funny 
> 
> I appreciate every comment, kudos, bookmarks, subscription, etc!
> 
> Until next time <3


	3. All Those Shadows Almost Killed Your Light

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The plot actually starts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there~
> 
> This chapter was hard to finish and I still don't think I'm super pleased with it... It is much longer than the first couple chapters though so I'm happy about that but it still sounds so rushed to me... 
> 
> There's a lot going on in this one too haha we switch perspectives a few times so just to be clear, the little ---- means we're switching to someone else's perspective
> 
> Chapter title comes from "Safe and Sound" by Taylor Swift and the Civil Wars (there's a whole reason I chose this line that I'll ramble on about in the end notes)
> 
> Chapter warnings: some cursing and some zombie death but it's pretty glossed over...I'm bad at writing gore and violence and stuff because I don't like it much lol
> 
> Thanks for reading!

“We get to go out again already?!” Bokuto was unable to keep the excitement out of his voice as he looked between his two friends eagerly.

“Hell yeah,” Kuroo confirmed. “Daichi thinks it’s better to explore the area in various different outings –” 

“It is,” Kenma interrupted as he fiddled with a walkie-talkie. 

“And we didn’t get to look around too much yesterday or bring back a lot of the stuff that we found so we can leave whenever you’re ready.”

Jumping to his feet with a grin, Bokuto assured “I’m ready now!”

Laughing at his enthusiasm, Kuroo nodded. “Alright, we’re taking a bigger group this time though, so we can haul more stuff back here,” he informed Bokuto, motioning for him to follow him and Kenma out towards the trucks. 

“Awesome,” Bokuto exclaimed as they headed outside. He took quick glance at the people who had gathered outside. He frowned when he noticed Daichi was standing there and he turned to check with Kuroo. “Daichi’s not coming though, right?”

Kuroo laughed in response. “Asahi won’t let him, and it’s driving him nuts.”

“He can’t fight well if he’s injured,” Kenma mumbled. “And it always comes down to fighting. It’s too dangerous.”

“It’s not like he was shot Kitten,” Kuroo reminded him. 

Kenma huffed. “No but he almost broke his arm and busted up his face. It won’t do any harm to have him take it easy for a while.”

“Daichi can take care of himself. He’d be fine,” Kuroo assured and Bokuto readily agreed with an excitable nod of his head. Daichi was a great leader and one of the strongest people Bokuto had met in his life. His injury hadn’t even been that bad. There were a couple bruises on his face and he fucked up his shoulder but all in all, he’ll walk away alright. 

Kenma raised an eyebrow. “Alright, well what if it was me? Would you let me go out on runs if I were in that situation?”

Bokuto could see Kuroo’s shoulders tense up at just the idea of Kenma being hurt. “That’s different,” he mumbled as he grabbed said boy by his wrist and dragged him towards the rest of the group.

“It is not,” Kenma argued as he tried to pull his wrist out of Kuroo’s grip. 

“Is too,” Kuroo countered quickly.

“Is not.”

“Is too.”

Their argument died down as they reached the rest of the group. It was the only way Kuroo ever really won, since Kenma was too shy to continue their bickering in front of a large group of people. Kuroo smirked in triumph as his boyfriend huffed and looked away. Although Bokuto noticed that their hands were now entwined.  


Daichi greeted them with a tired smile. “Nice of you to finally show up,” he teased as they reached the group. Kuroo and Bokuto just grinned at him.

The plan was simple - go back to the stores that Bokuto, Kenma, and Kuroo were at the previous day and collect the rest of the supplies before somebody else found it. Now that they were bringing a bigger group it would be easier to haul back all of the leftover supplies and anymore that they might be able to find. 

Due to the fact that Asahi still didn’t want Daichi to go out and risk injuring his shoulder even more, he left Kuroo in charge, which was no surprise to anyone. 

They decided to take two cars. That would be enough to hold the people that were going and more than enough room to bring back supplies. Tanaka and Noya were going to take Tsukishima in the pick up truck and Bokuto and the others were taking the van. As they were getting ready to leave, they were interrupted by a loud yell.

“Kuroo-san!” 

As Kenma was hopping in the back of the van someone else came bursting out of the motel. Long limbs flailing, Lev ran up to the group, bumping straight into the back of Kuroo as he did so. 

“Ouch,” he exclaimed as he fell backwards to the ground. “Sorry Kuroo-san! I wasn’t paying attention!”

“That’s nothing new,” Kenma mumbled. 

“Clearly,” Kuroo hummed. He crossed his arms as he watched Lev bounce quickly back to his feet. He was undeterred by the sarcastic comments and grinned at the group of them.

“Are you going out again?” Lev asked with a hopeful glint in his eye. “Can I come too?!”

“Hell no,” Yaku snapped before Kuroo was able to respond. 

Lev pouted. “Awww Yaku-san! But why not?” 

“Because if you come I’ll be stuck babysitting you! I don’t want to spend the entire run looking out for you!”

Bokuto made eye contact with Kuroo and they rolled their eyes in unison. Nobody told Yaku he had to look out for Lev as much as he did. It was something he did all on his own, whether he recognized that or not. Everyone was taking bets on how long it would take Yaku to realize why he cared so much. 

“Not today Lev,” Kuroo stepped in before Lev had a chance to argue. “Go hang out with Hinata and practice your blocking for our next game, alright?”

Any disappointment Lev felt at having his request declined evaporated at the mention of volleyball. “Just you wait Kuroo-san!” he cried. “I’ll be able to block you next game!”

Kuroo smirked. “We’ll see Lev.”

Lev waved as they began piling in the truck. As Bokuto slid into the passenger seat, he heard Lev call out “Good luck! Be safe Yaku-san!”

Yaku grumbled out something unintelligible as he pulled the back door to the van shut. He sat on the floor next to Kenma and Kuroo grinned at him from behind the wheel.  


“Hey Yaku do you want to switch seats with Bo?” he asked innocently. “It’s probably safer up here since there’s a seatbelt. You wouldn’t want Lev to worry about you.”

“Shut up,” Yaku growled. “Just drive the damn car.”

Chuckling, Kuroo shifted the van into drive and pulled out down the road. Bokuto glanced in the rearview mirror and saw Tsukishima follow them in the pickup truck with Tanaka and Noya sitting in the back. 

“Do you think someone else has found those shops?” Bokuto asked after a while, looking for conversation to cure his boredom. It wasn't a short drive and he was already growing restless at being stuck in the car.

Kuroo glanced at him before answering. “No idea. Maybe, but we haven’t seen a lot of living people around this area in general, so maybe we’ll be alright.”

Bokuto nodded. Kuroo was right; there weren’t a lot of living people in the area around their motel. The idea of even running into someone who wasn’t a part of their group was almost unimaginable. It was unfortunate because Bokuto loved meeting new people and making new friends. But it was difficult to do that when they hadn’t seen another living person in months. 

And it wasn’t as though he disliked living with Daichi and his group - the people were all great and friendly and it was the safest place Bokuto had taken shelter at since everything went to hell. But it just seemed like everyone there had someone they were super close to except for Bokuto. Watching people like Kuroo and Kenma, Lev and Yaku, Asahi and Noya… Bokuto couldn’t help but feel a little left out. 

It was irrational but sometimes he wondered who would really miss him if he died. He used to wonder about that even before the apocalypse but since there was a much greater possibility of that happening now, he thought about it much more often. He had tried to bring it up to Kuroo once but he hadn’t really gotten anywhere. Kuroo had assured him that he would definitely care if something happened to Bokuto, but Bokuto knew better. If it was between Bokuto and Kenma, there was no question who Kuroo would prefer to survive.

It was a ridiculous thought but once Bokuto got into his sad moods, it was pretty difficult to pull him out of it. Kuroo tried his best to help but all Bokuto really wanted was to be left alone. He hated bothering other people with irrational fears and worries when they had their own to worry about.

He sighed as he looked at the dark clouds overhead. It was a gloomy and overcast day and he couldn’t help but feel that it reflected his mood rather well. He hated when his bad moods hit him like this with no warning. He spent the rest of the car ride wallowing in self pity, hoping that the ominous clouds and his mood change wasn’t a sign of something bad about to happen.

\-----

It had been a while since Akaashi had a chance to actually leave Katashi’s compound and venture out into the world crawling with the undead. There were times at night that, when he closed his eyes, he could simply just pretend that the world wasn’t ending. Without the reminder of seeing zombies every day, he had almost been able to convince himself nothing bad was happening.

But he supposed that if there was really nothing wrong, he wouldn’t be so terrified every time he stepped out of his room. You shouldn’t have to be so afraid of the people you were living with.

The guy driving the truck they were in slammed the brakes on, jolting Akaashi out of his daydreaming. He exchanged a look with Suga, who was sitting across from him in the back of the truck. Oikawa wasn’t looking at either of them; his gaze was fixed somewhere above him, eyeing the dark clouds that gathered over their heads. 

“Is this the place he was talking about?” one of the guys they were with asked as he climbed out of the passenger seat of the truck.

Looking around, Akaashi noticed a pretty beaten down looking cluster of stores across the road from a couple houses. The only place that looked like it might hold any potential medicine was a drug store. Although, it looked pretty worn down and Akaashi thought that there was a good chance that things were already picked over. It was possible there might be medicine in the houses but it was risky. There were a lot of people who holed up in their homes and died from lack of supplies, turning them into the undead and just waiting for someone to get too close. 

“Let’s get out and look around,” one of the guys instructed, hopping out of the truck and gripping his gun. “It doesn’t look like there’s any dead around here, but we should still be on alert just in case.”

Akaashi was barely listening to the instructions as his feet touched the pavement of the parking lot. They had been driving for a long while and Akaashi didn’t really realize it until he looked around and was unable to find any familiar landmarks. The absence of anything familiar sent a chill down his spine.

Suga and Oikawa climbed down beside him and the three of them stood a few feet away from the rest of the people they were with.

“They drove us really far away from the compound,” Akaashi muttered quietly. Suga and Oikawa both nodded as they also looked around, eyes narrowed as they searched for anything familiar themselves. Akaashi had hoped that maybe either of them had been to this area before they joined with Katashi’s group but, after seeing the blank looks on their faces, his hope was quickly crushed. 

“I don’t like this,” Suga whispered. He looked more on edge than Akaashi had ever seen him. It was a little alarming since Suga did his best to project positivity all the time.

“Neither do I,” Oikawa agreed. “I don’t like being this far from Iwa-chan…”

Akaashi would have rolled his eyes but, if he was being honest, _he_ didn’t like being this far away from Iwaizumi either. Aside from the fact that he feared for his life, Iwaizumi was one of the strongest fighters Akaashi had ever seen. The undead didn’t bother him at all and he was both a good shot and accurate with a knife. Being outside without him made Akaashi feel exposed and vulnerable. Not a good combination. But if he was feeling this way, he could only imagine what Oikawa was going through right now.

He stayed close to Suga and Oikawa’s side as they followed the group. When he felt a hand on his wrist he slowed to a stop, looking up into Oikawa’s wide eyes. He was quiet for a moment before sighing. “Do you think that Katashi would still hurt Iwa-chan if just one of us came back?”

Akaashi had to bite his tongue to prevent himself from saying that he thought Katashi was going to hurt Iwaizumi regardless of what they did. Suga’s eyes narrowed slightly. “Why are you asking?”

Oikawa’s gaze moved to the dense cluster of trees a little ways away from them. “I could go back,” he mumbled so quietly that Akaashi almost didn’t hear him. “Just me. There’s no reason that you two should have to go back just because of Iwa-chan.”

Akaashi and Suga shared a glance before giving Oikawa an exasperated look. “Oikawa,” Suga started. “We aren’t going to let you go back by yourself.”

“Why not?” The genuine shock on Oikawa’s face took Suga by surprise and Akaashi almost laughed at his horrified expression.

“What do you mean ‘why not?’” Suga exclaimed, waving his hands so violently that Akaashi was afraid he might hurt himself with the knife he was holding. “We care about both of you and there’s no way I’m letting you go back to that dangerous place by yourself! Why would you even think of such a thing?”

Oikawa bit his lip and he shrugged. “I don’t know…” he mumbled but one stern look from Suga told him that his answer wasn’t good enough. He elaborated.

“Iwa-chan and I have always relied on each other and that’s it. There was never anybody else that I could trust as much as him. I guess it’s just weird for me to think that it’s not exactly like that anymore.”

Suga huffed, clearly not happy with the answer but was satisfied enough. “Well you’re right, it’s not like that anymore. Now you have us,” he said, gesturing to himself and Akaashi. “So let’s find some of that stupid medicine so we can get back to him.”

“Hey!” 

The aggressive exclamation brought their attention back towards the main group. One of the people they were with was beckoning them forward. Akaashi sighed as he followed his friends over to the others.

“Alright so remember,” the leader called out. “We’re here looking for medicine. It would probably be best if we split up to look.”

The thought of being split up made Akaashi feel absolutely sick. Katashi had already separated them from Iwaizumi with a death threat and now he wanted to split up the three of them? Akaashi wondered if he was able to control his facial expression so the fear didn’t show on his features. He disliked showing fear openly to people because it made him appear vulnerable. 

Apparently Oikawa wasn’t as successful as Akaashi was at controlling his facial expression because the leader laughed. “Splitting up is the fastest way to get you back to Iwaizumi so I don’t really know why you’re pouting.”

Judging by the way Oikawa’s body stiffened, Akaashi could tell that the comment wasn’t received well. When none of them offered any further comments the leader nodded. He proceeded to dictate who was splitting off with who. Akaashi was unsurprised to find that he, Suga, and Oikawa were all separated from each other and paired with other nameless people. Akaashi hadn’t bothered to listen when they were introducing themselves. 

“We’re headed to the drugstore,” Akaashi’s partner told him, gesturing towards the large building. “It has the largest possibility of any medicine.” He held out one of the two guns he was holding. “You can take this.”

Akaashi took the weapon with a sense of dread - he was really hoping he wouldn’t have to use it. “Thank you,” he responded politely, ignoring the smirk that his partner gave him.

It was a miracle the drugstore hadn’t already crumbled to the ground with how ruined it was. Akaashi didn’t see how they were planning to find any medicine underneath the fallen shelves and through the broken glass that littered the floor. The most he was able to find were half empty boxes of snack foods, cracked cosmetics, and dusty clothes. 

“Well this is a bust,” Akaashi’s partner muttered as he angrily kicked at a glass bottle. Akaashi flinched at the loud sound and raised his eyebrow in question. 

“What’s with the judgemental look?” his partner snapped. When Akaashi didn’t answer he sighed. “There looks to be a supply cabinet at the back. Go check it out. I’ll be back.”

He turned and left the shop before Akaashi had a chance to question him.

_Just as well. It’s less stressful if I just look by myself._

He inspected the shelves a little more closely, just in case there was anything he missed at first glance. He was unable to find any of the medical supplies they were looking for - there wasn’t even a box of bandages around he could take.

The way to the back of the store was filled with debris and, to Akaashi’s horror, a couple of unmoving corpses. As he passed them, he wondered if they had died right away or if they had turned into zombies first. It was difficult to tell through all the injuries. Gagging slightly, he began to pick a path to walk through all the destruction, doing his best to steer clear of anything that resembled a human form. 

The first gunshot startled him so much that he wasn’t watching where he was stepping. As he jumped in surprise, his foot left the ground and came back down on something round that easily slipped out from under him. Pain shot through his cheek when he hit the ground, scraping it against some sharp edge of something unidentifiable. He glared at the offending volleyball, which is what caused him to trip in the first place.

More gunshots came and Akaashi could hear the remaining glass of the windows behind him begin to shatter. Pushing himself to his feet, he stumbled through the mess of debris until he reached the counter at the back of the store.

Now that he was far back enough to be out of range of the shots, he thoughts began to catch up with him. _Who was shooting at who and why? Were Suga and Oikawa alright? Did they run into another group of survivors or is Katashi trying to kill us?_

\-----

When they pulled up to the stores they were the previous day, Kuroo immediately felt uneasy. As far as he remembered, there were not that many cars in the parking lot before, and since the dead couldn’t drive, that meant there was most likely living people around. 

He pulled into the parking lot slowly and put the van into park, glancing around warily. It appeared to be deserted but Kuroo didn’t want to take any chances.

“Were there this many cars here yesterday?” Bokuto asked as he slowly got out of the car, a knife gripped in his hand. Kuroo followed him, gently shutting the door so he didn’t make too much noise. 

Kenma must’ve also noticed the amount of cars because he came out of the van also gripping his knife. It took a lot of self control for Kuroo not to just pull him into his arms and keep him close to make sure nothing happened to him. If Kenma was worried enough to hold his weapon without Kuroo prompting him, that mean they were probably in trouble.

Noya and the others came to join them shortly after. They must’ve picked up on how tense the situation was because Noya and Tanaka were unusually quiet. 

“What’s going on Kuroo?” Yaku asked, looking around.

“I’m not sure,” Kuroo answered. “I just have a bad feeling…”

When Bokuto and Kenma both nodded in agreement, Kuroo knew they definitely needed to be on guard. Both of them were excellent at recognizing dangerous situations. Kenma had always had fantastic instincts and Bokuto’s mood swings were usually pretty accurate in altering them at when something bad would happen. Kuroo had noticed how down he was on the ride here but he didn’t want to call him out with Kenma and Yaku in the back. He would have to talk to him about it later.

“Let’s check things out,” Kuroo instructed, moving forward. 

Bokuto was the first to move, immediately looking in the cars to see if there was anybody waiting in them. The others spread out to look as well, disappearing from Kuroo’s view. He had no luck finding anybody in the cars or in the general area and he sighed. He was about to call out and instruct that they go search through the buildings when he heard shouting coming from behind him.

Turning around he came face to face with a group of people, all pointing their guns towards him. Gritting his teeth, Kuroo immediately raised his hands to shoulder height. “Hey, whoa, whoa! Wait!” he called out, his voice gaining the attention of the person closest to him. 

“Who are you?” one of the men demanded, aggressively shaking his gun. “You trying to steal our stuff?”

“No!” Kuroo exclaimed. “We didn’t know if there were any survivors here. We were just checking-” 

“Checking for supplies to steal most likely,” another guy snapped. “Let’s just kill him and be done with it. We have more important things we have to do. Where did those idiots get to anyways?”

“I haven’t done anything wrong,” Kuroo countered quickly. “Honest. I was just checking for people but I can go.”

One of the guys aiming at him went to respond but before he could there was a call of “Kuroo?”

_Shit._

Bokuto came around a corner, his face twisted in some sort of concerned expression when he saw Kuroo. But he wasn’t the only one to came to his aid. While the men were busy frowning at Bokuto and, to Kuroo’s dismay, beginning to aim their guns at him, the rest of his group came out from behind cars and inside buildings. 

There was a flurry of panic from the group of strangers in front of them as they tried to figure out who they should aim at. Kuroo’s group was outnumbered though and he couldn’t help but keep glancing at the people aiming at Bokuto and Kenma, both of whom were only armed with a knife. 

“Drop your guns,” one of the men demanded.

“Like hell we will,” Tanaka responded, carefully aiming his shot. Kuroo was torn between being impressed at his confidence and wanting to get him to put down the weapon if it would get them all out of this safely.

“Look,” Kuroo forced out. He was trying to stay calm and follow Daichi’s example of not resorting to violence if it was possible. “We’ll leave. Just put your guns down and let us get out of your hair.” Supplies be damned. Kuroo wasn’t about to let them get shot to death just for a little bit of extra medicine. 

“You’ll really leave?” one of the guys asked. “You’re not going to try and take our cars or attack us?”

Kuroo shook his head. “No.”

The man was silent for a minute before saying “I don’t believe you.”

As soon as the words left his mouth, Kuroo knew he was going to shoot. He was in the middle of throwing himself to the ground when the gunshot rang out. His arm burned in pain and he grunted as he hit the ground. He registered both Bokuto and Kenma yelling his name but it was soon drowned out by multiple other gunshots coming from both the strangers and his friends as they returned fire. He scrambled behind the car closest to him, leaning against the door and clutching at his bleeding arm. 

“Fuck,” Kuroo hissed. He glanced around to see everyone taking cover. Bokuto took off towards the drugstore, apparently aiming to go inside it. 

“Bo, wait!” he cried, trying to get his friend’s attention. He really didn’t think that it was the best idea for them to split up, especially if Bokuto was in one of his moods. It could make him careless and he would be less focused on his safety. But as he moved to chase after him, he heard a faint whimper coming from his other side. Whipping his head around, his gaze landed on Kenma, crouched behind another car with his hands covering his head. 

Kuroo’s heart lurched at the sight and he was torn between who he should go help. When he turned to look back at Bokuto, he found he had already vanished from sight and Kuroo didn’t see which direction he turned. Did he end up going into the drugstore or did he go somewhere else? 

With bullets flying above him Kuroo hardly had the opportunity to get up and look for his friend. Desperately hoping Bokuto knew what he was doing and that he would be okay, Kuroo dashed over to the car Kenma was huddled behind. 

When he dropped down next to him, Kenma flinched and curled into himself a bit tighter.

“Hey hey, don’t worry Kitten. It’s just me,” Kuroo murmured as he rested his hand on Kenma’s shoulder while still holding tight to his bleeding wound. His voice was tight with pain and fear but it must’ve been enough to reassure Kenma, who looked up at him immediately.

“Kuro,” he muttered, batting his hand away from his wound so he could take a look. “I can’t believe you got yourself shot.”

“Just a graze Kitten,” Kuroo assured, hoping to ease some of the tension that was present in Kenma’s usually lazy body. “Don’t worry about it, I promise I’m okay.”

Kenma glanced up at him and looked as if he wanted to say something but a few shots hit off the car they were hiding behind again and Kenma jumped, his hands clenching into fists over the long sleeves of his sweatshirt. 

Kuroo wanted nothing more than to get Kenma and the rest of them out of this mess but he didn’t have a gun and everyone was so spread out that there was no way he was able to inform everyone of a plan. Instead, he settled for pulling Kenma closer to his side, trying to both offer and seek comfort. He could see both Yaku and Tsukishima with their guns pointed at the attackers and he could hear the occasional yell that came from Noya. The competence of his friends gave him back a little hope that had left him when he lost sight of Bokuto.

Almost as if he read his mind, Kenma asked “Where’s Koutarou?” as he glanced around the parking lot, frowning when he didn’t see him.

“He went somewhere around that drugstore,” Kuroo explained. His arm tightened around Kenma almost instinctively, his worry for his friend making him want to keep his boyfriend even closer. “I - I lost sight of him and he could be-”

“Don’t be stupid,” Kenma snapped. “If he went to seek cover in the store then he’s fine.”

Kuroo was unsure if Kenma really thought that or if he was simply saying it to comfort him but he appreciated it either way. He hoped and prayed to every higher power that he could think of that Bokuto was safe and that Kuroo hadn’t been the one to lead the mission that got his best friend killed.

\-----

At the back of the store, Akaashi was out of range of any stray gunshots and he was able to breathe in relief for about thirty seconds before he ran into a problem. The door to the back room closet was shut but there was definite banging on the other side. 

_It must be the undead. This place is so deserted that it has to be them._

He was about to put some distance between him and the door, not wanting to go inside and investigate when he was unsure how many zombies were in there, but then Akaashi thought he heard someone running around the store. It was dark in the back but the sound of footsteps were unmistakable. And they were getting louder.

He crouched behind the counter as the footsteps grew closer. They were moving quickly through all the garbage that covered the floor. There was no gasping or growling sounds, which meant that it was a living person and not one of the dead. Akaashi gripped the handle of his gun tighter. Killing zombies was something he hated doing; it was messy and terrifying in its own way. What stopped Akaashi from falling into a pit of self-loathing was the fact that these people were already dead and a zombie only had one objective. There was no chance at redemption, no way that you could convince them to stop their violent intentions. Akaashi liked to think of it as putting them out of their misery.

Living people brought a whole new type of horror. It was difficult to kill someone who was actively fighting for survival – someone who had the potential to be redeemed. Akaashi had been forced to kill a few living people in the name of self-preservation before, but it never got any easier.

The person came whipping around the corner, a knife gripped in his hand, and ended up coming a little too close to Akaashi’s hiding place for his liking. Leaving his safety from behind the counter, he quickly raised his gun and aimed at him, relieved to notice that he was only holding a knife and not a gun. When he caught sight of Akaashi, he froze and immediately raised his arms up to shoulder height. 

Even though it was an act of surrender, Akaashi still felt very uneasy. “Drop the knife,” he commanded. His voice echoed through the store and he cringed at how afraid he sounded. 

To his surprise, the stranger didn’t hesitate. The only movement he made was opening his closed fist so the knife clattered to the floor. 

A couple of particularly louder gunshots from outside pulled both of their gazes away from each other. Akaashi was the first to return his gaze and he was shocked to note the open concern that the stranger wore. It occurred to him that, much like he didn’t know what had happened to Suga and Oikawa, this man didn’t know what happened to his friends either. 

It had been a while since Akaashi had been on a supplies run and even longer since he held a weapon to someone. He was a little unsure of where to go from here. He didn’t want to kill this man and it seemed like this man didn’t have any intention to kill him. All he really wanted was to go check on his friends and then head back to their base and make sure Iwaizumi was alright.

A loud crash came from somewhere around Akaashi and he desperately hoped that it was one of the guys from his base. He didn’t want to stop aiming at the stranger but if there were any zombies behind him, he wasn’t going to have much of a choice. 

Then again, for all the brains they ate, zombies were stupid. They were slow and loud, so Akaashi had a better chance outrunning them. But this man in front of him could think for himself and create tactics. He also looked to be in better shape than Akaashi, which meant he would never win in a foot race or in hand to hand. 

The sounds behind him got louder but he refused to turn his gun away from the man. _He’s the greater threat. Humans are always the greater threat._

The man looked as though he wanted to say something but before he could, Akaashi heard a scream come from somewhere outside. It sounded an awful lot like Oikawa and Akaashi felt himself freeze. Oikawa couldn’t be hurt. They couldn’t go back to Iwaizumi with Oikawa hurt. That just wasn’t an option.

A loud snarl came shockingly close to his left side and every thought left Akaashi’s mind. His gun lowered instinctually as he tried to move it to aim at the more immediate threat. The door he heard the banging on had come open and he was apparently too distracted to notice. 

Frozen by shock, Akaashi couldn’t bring his body to move. His hand twitched on his gun as he was about to reluctantly aim it at the undead, leaving him open and vulnerable to the stranger before him. Every instinct in him screamed that this was the wrong idea, but if he didn’t move his damn gun he was going to be eaten alive.

A body knocked into him, sending him sprawling to the ground, his gun falling out of his hand and skittering across the floor. He cursed under his breath as the weight came off him just as quickly as it hit him. The wind was knocked out of him when he fell and he couldn’t regain his breath.

 _So. This is how I die._ The bitter thought echoed in Akaashi’s mind as he struggled to sit up. _I’m either going to be murdered by this stranger or torn to pieces by the undead all because I hesitated with my weapon._

What he wasn’t expecting was for the stranger to jump off him and head straight towards the zombie, embedding his knife so deeply in its temple that it instantly fell to the ground. Akaashi watched in absolute shock as the stranger barrelled forward, single-handedly taking out the other two zombies that had been approaching and effectively saving Akaashi’s life.

He was taken by surprise again as the stranger didn’t simply leave or turn on him and kill him, but instead offered him a hand. “Sorry about that - I didn’t mean to hit you that hard. You okay?” he asked as Akaashi tentatively nodded, his body still a little sore from hitting the ground. He ignored the outstretched hand and struggled to his feet on his own.

“I hate these stupid things,” the stranger said conversationally, gesturing to the now unmoving corpse of the zombies. “And I think getting ripped apart by them is one of the worst ways to go, don’t you?”

 _He’s so friendly,_ Akaashi thought. Nowadays it was hard to trust people, but his man had not only not killed him with his knife, but had actually come to his aid.

“Why would you help me?” Akaashi couldn’t help asking. He knew he sounded rude and suspicious but it was so out of character for people to actually help one another in this world. Akaashi had never been on the receiving end of such kindness from a perfect stranger.

The stranger blinked slowly at him, as if he didn’t understand the question. Then he shrugged. “I know we’re shooting at each other and stuff,” he said, his hand coming up to run through his ridiculously spiked hair. “But there’s got to be enough supplies to go around! It’s the living against the dead – no good will come from attacking each other, yeah?”

 _It’s the living against the dead._ It was so simple; a seemingly obvious observation that made everything seem so black and white. It was a nice thought, but Akaashi knew better. The world wasn’t black and white, but rather a muddy mess of pure grey. It would be wonderful to believe in something as simple as living versus the dead, good versus evil. But that isn’t how things worked.

He didn’t vocalize any of this though. For some reason, the friendly sparkle in this stranger’s eyes stopped him and he found himself rendered speechless in shock at how someone’s eyes could remain so lively through such a terrible time. 

“We should probably find a way out of here,” the stranger was saying. _We._ So he expected Akaashi to come with him? Before he was able to ask, the stranger reached down and picked up Akaashi’s fallen gun and held it out for him to take.

As he took the gun, Akaashi wondered how much blind faith he had left in him and if placing the remaining vestiges of that faith in this particular stranger would help him. If Akaashi was really a part of Katashi’s group, he would grab his gun and shoot this guy dead right here, no questions asked. If this guy was stupid enough to return a fully loaded weapon into the hands of someone who aimed at him not five minutes ago, then he deserved to die. It was a stupid and reckless choice; it was one that Akaashi himself might have made earlier in his life. But he had been with enough groups of survivors to know how dangerous it was to trust people.

Something about this man seemed different though. His eyes held and earnestness that Akaashi was certain nobody could fake. He genuinely just wanted to help out. It was his eyes that convinced him; Akaashi had been unable to focus on much else since he saw those eyes.

“We should probably find a way out of here,” he confirmed.

The gunshots from the parking lot were still going but they had slowed considerably. However, Akaashi still didn’t feel as though the safest thing for them to do was to parade right out the front doors.

“Do you think this place has a back exit?” He asked the question mostly to himself but the stranger heard him and answered anyways. 

“Ahh maybe. That’s smart. Let’s go check!” 

They picked their way through more garbage and broken down shelves as they made their way towards a door in the far corner of the store. Akaashi was content to make the trip in silence but his new friend seemed to have other ideas.

“So,” he drawled out, swinging his arms dramatically at his side. “Do you maybe wanna tell me why your friends started shooting at us?”

Akaashi stiffened. “They aren’t my friends.”

He wasn’t sure why he felt the need to separate himself from the rest of the group but for some reason Akaashi wanted this man to know that he wasn’t like them.

The stranger glanced at him curiously but Akaashi refused to meet his gaze. He didn’t want to explain the situation to someone he didn’t trust.

_If you didn’t trust him then you wouldn’t be walking with him._

Akaashi pushed that thought out of his mind.

“I don’t know why they started shooting,” he said instead as they reached the door. “They must’ve thought you were a threat.”

He looked like he wanted to respond but Akaashi ignored him, distracting him as he pulled the door open.

It was a back exit and although he could still hear the occasional gunshot going off, this was a much better idea than trying to leave through the front door. 

He ducked out the door and took shelter behind one of the dumpsters in the back alley. His new companion was close behind him and Akaashi felt equal parts nervous and comforted by his presence.

“Should we wait until the gunshots stop, or try and make our way over an help? I mean, you don’t have to - it’s just… I do have friends out there and I kind of want to make sure they’re okay, you know?”

He was rambling and Akaashi had to suppress his random urge to smile. Unfortunately, something caught his attention that erased any sort of amusement from his body.

He saw the blow coming, as one of Katashi’s men was sneaking around the corner of the dumpster, a piece of iron raised, ready to crash it down on the stranger’s head. He was taking advantage of the fact that he was distracted by worrying over his friends. And while Akaashi didn’t know anything about this stranger, he believed that he hadn’t done anything to warrant being bludgeoned to death. 

“Look out!” Akaashi couldn’t help himself from calling out as he surged forward to push his new companion out of the way. This wasn’t his fault that Akaashi’s group had open fired on them. It was more than likely that Katashi’s group simply got bored or annoyed and took their frustrations out on the closest target they could find. Besides, he had essentially saved him from becoming a zombie meal, so he figured the least he could do was return the favour.

He fell forward as the blow hit his head instead. Pain throbbed through his head and he collapsed to the ground hard, a shock reverberating through his body as his elbow hit the ground. He desperately tried to keep his eyes open, knowing that if he fell unconscious after a head wound like that, there was a possibility of him not waking up. 

However, staying awake proved to be more difficult than he thought. Sound reached his ears but he couldn’t get a grasp on what was going on - the words all sounded jumbled. He wished it would stop, but the second it did, he no longer had anything to focus on. Akaashi’s eyes slipped shut and everything went black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haha so!
> 
> I'm sorry for all the vague language I use, I don't know why I didn't have Bokuto introduce himself to Akaashi in this chapter and I was just stuck calling him "the stranger" even though I'm sure y'all figured out who it was the second he showed up lol
> 
> The "All the Shadows Almost Killed Your Light" title mainly came to reference Akaashi and how he's had lots of bad experiences with actual living people and yet he still finds it in him to trust Bokuto and actually likes him even though he's a perfect stranger. It could also relate back to Bokuto because despite his mood swings and how he's feeling, he's always ready to help someone out
> 
> Kuroo's perspective snuck up on me, I wasn't planning to write it but I just like KuroKen a lot and I also sort of wanted to prove Bokuto right? Because Kuroo does choose to go to Kenma over him even though he's still very worried about Bokuto. But Kuroo's fierce protection and care for Kenma will be important later ish so I also really want to establish how much he loves that boy lol
> 
> So this was a lot of end notes and kudos to anyone who actually read through all my rambling haha 
> 
> I appreciate every comment, kudos, etc
> 
> <3


	4. My Empty Heart Says I'm A Fool

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Bokuto unrealistically falls in love with Akaashi after the first three seconds of seeing him

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello~
> 
> I'm trying to move this story at a medium pace so that it's not boring but I really want to get to a point where Bokuto and Akaashi really interact with each other so 
> 
> Chapter title comes from "Sleepless Nights" by SHINee (assuming the translation I found was correct) 
> 
> Chapter Warnings: minor violence and blood mention, plus a little bit of mature humour but I mean (I don't know if these warnings are necessary but just in case)
> 
> Thanks for reading!

Bokuto stumbled into the dumpster next to him and watched as the blow that was supposedly meant for him struck the other man instead. He was unable to bring himself to do anything as he fell to the floor at Bokuto's feet.

“Shit,” the guy holding the iron bar said as he glanced down at his victim. “Sorry Akaashi,” he told the feebly stirring body before him without a note of remorse in his voice. “I meant to hit your new friend. Although I suppose it’s all the same, since I was told to kill you anyway.”

The guy, Akaashi, apparently, moaned softly from the ground. Bokuto was surprised he wasn’t knocked completely unconscious. He narrowed his eyes as he looked at the attacker. He didn’t know anything about what was going on, but he didn’t like the way that this guy was talking to Akaashi. If he knew his name, then Bokuto assumed they knew each other. Why would he be told to kill him?

Unfortunately, Bokuto wasn’t paying attention full attention since he was too concerned about Akaashi, who just took a blow to the head for him. He was confused and concerned and what at a little bit of a loss at what to do. 

He caught the movement of the attacker a little too late and he was forced to raise his arm to block another strike. Pain radiated through his arm as the bar came down on the middle of his forearm. Doing his best to ignore it, Bokuto gritted his teeth. His attacker was distracted and a little shocked that Bokuto had blocked him - he wasn’t expecting him to fight back - and he used this to his advantage. He brought his fist up and was morbidly pleased when it connected with the jaw of the attacker. Bokuto followed up quickly with another shot to the temple.

To his satisfaction, the attacker dropped the bar and fell to the floor, moving almost as much as Akaashi. Bokuto was a little surprised at his own strength, but another groan from Akaashi jolted him into action.

“Hey,” Bokuto said softly, kneeling down beside him. “Are you okay?”

Akaashi made a sound but didn’t respond. Frowning, Bokuto weighed his options. He could just leave the guy here; after all, he was part of the group that shot Kuroo and was currently attacking his friends. But he did take a hit for him and ultimately saved him from, at the very least, a major headache. It felt wrong to leave him behind and, as Bokuto reflected, that other guy didn’t seem to like him very much either. He'd definitely be in danger, whether it was from that guy once he woke up or if some zombies came across him while he was unconscious. 

_Fuck it,_ Bokuto thought as he reached down to pull Akaashi’s arm over his shoulder and hoist him up. _I can’t just leave him here._

He was pleased that Akaashi was at least semi-conscious and, as Bokuto began steering them out of the building, Akaashi was able to help him along a little bit. 

The gunshots had stopped so Bokuto hoped that also signalled the end of the fighting. As he dragged Akaashi out of the building, he instantly caught sight of Kuroo talking with Yaku near their cars. He breathed a sigh of relief to see that his friend was alright. He knew the shot hadn’t hurt Kuroo too badly but it was still good to see him walking around without any obvious problems. He began to head over to towards him, since he was in charge and would be able to help. But before he was able to reach him, he was stopped by a shout of “Hey!”

Turning to the side, Bokuto looked just in time to see an ashen haired guy come running at him with a glare on his face. 

“Let go of him!” the stranger called out, referring to the unconscious Akaashi hanging from Bokuto’s shoulder.

“What did you do to him?” the stranger spit out the question. He looked angry and afraid and Bokuto was sure that, if he had a weapon, he would have attacked him already.

Bokuto shook his head violently. “I didn’t do anything, honest! I’m just trying to help him!” 

It didn’t look as though the ashen haired guy believed him but before he said anything there was a call of “S-Suga-chan” from the side. Both of them looked over and Bokuto saw another unfamiliar person limping as he clutched at his knee, with blood spilling from between his fingers. Bokuto’s eyes widened at the serious looking injury as Suga sprinted over in panic. 

He was so busy watching Suga press his own hand to the brown haired guy’s wound that Kuroo’s call of “Bo!” startled him.

“Kuroo!” he replied, equally as excited. “Are you okay man? How’s your arm?” 

As Kuroo came to a stop beside him, he nodded his head. “It was just a graze. No worries,” he assured, lifting his arm to show the white bandage that was now wrapped around it. 

If he wasn’t holding up another person, Bokuto would’ve hugged him in relief. But as it so happens, Akaashi had fallen completely unconscious at this point and the only thing keeping him upright was Bokuto’s support. 

“Who’s this?” Kuroo asked, his eyes narrowing at the unfamiliar figure of Akaashi draped over Bokuto’s shoulder. 

“This is Akaashi, I think,” Bokuto answered and then jerked his head over towards Suga. “And those guys know him I guess.”

Kuroo narrowed his eyes in apprehension as he glanced between them. “Soooo... what are you doing?” he asked.

“Helping him?” If he was being honest, Bokuto didn’t really know what he was doing. He wasn’t in charge of the group – he wasn’t even in charge of this run – so he didn’t know if it was absolutely pointless to bring Akaashi back to the motel with them if Daichi was just going to kick him out. 

_I was told to kill you anyway._

The line echoed in Bokuto’s head ominously. He wondered why that guy had orders to kill Akaashi. He didn’t seem like a bad person. Even if he was, it was difficult to imagine wanting to kill someone who was living. Like he told Akaashi - it was the living against the dead. He didn’t mention this to Kuroo though. He figured that knowing there was someone out to kill Akaashi would make him more reluctant to bring him to the safety of their home. In Bokuto’s opinion, that was the exact reason they _should_ offer him help.

Besides, he couldn’t just leave him lying there on the ground. That just wasn’t the person he was. At the very least, he had found Akaashi’s friends, so if Kuroo was too worried, then he could leave him in their care. Although, those guys looked pretty beat up and Bokuto didn’t think they would last long if they were attacked. 

Kuroo sighed. “It’s dangerous,” he said slowly, trying to emphasize his point and regain Bokuto’s focus. “You don’t know anything about him.”

Bokuto shrugged. “Akaashi saved me man, I couldn’t just leave him there,” he explained. “And that guy, his friend or whatever, might’ve been shot.”

“Bo, they fucking fired at us,” Kuroo reminded him, crossing his arms. “How do we know they aren’t just waiting to kill us once we let our guard down?”

“I… I guess we don’t,” Bokuto admitted.

“They shot me, remember?” Kuroo pressed on once he sensed Bokuto’s uncertainty. “They literally shot me in the arm.”

“Akaashi didn’t,” Bokuto couldn’t help pointing out. He was angry about Kuroo’s injury but he didn’t want to direct that anger at people who didn’t deserve it. “Actually, I don’t remember seeing any of them in the group that shot at you.”

Kuroo fell silent and Bokuto could see the crack in his strict leader exterior. Bokuto took his chance.

“Daichi wouldn’t just leave someone who helped him here. Plus, one of them is unconscious and the other is shot. It’s not like they’re going to attack us on the way back - they’re too weak. And they’re not being hostile or anything now.” 

Kuroo still looked unconvinced so he surprised Bokuto by grumbling out “Alright.” Bokuto suppressed his grin – he knew that bringing up Daichi’s name would easily make Kuroo decide to help these guys out. “Fine. I want to know why they started shooting at us anyways. If there’s a group of violent people near where we live, then we need to know about it.”

Bokuto nodded enthusiastically. “Nishinoya!” Kuroo called out and Noya looked over immediately. “Get some bandages ready, someone’s hurt!”

As Noya nodded in understanding, Kuroo approached Suga and his friend. 

“That looks pretty bad,” he said, gesturing to the man’s bleeding knee. “Come on, if you come back to our base with us, we can help you out.”

The injured man shook his head but Suga looked torn. His gaze flickered between his bleeding friend and the unconscious Akaashi, who was still being supported by Bokuto. 

“Oikawa I’m sorry,” he said to his friend, and Bokuto could clearly hear the regret in his voice. “But we need to get both you and Akaashi medical attention. I can’t help you both on my own.”

Oikawa’s head snapped up and his gaze landed on Akaashi. “Aka-chan?” he asked before his eyes narrowed. “What did you do?” 

“Bo didn’t do anything,” Kuroo said sharply, coming immediately to Bokuto’s defense. “He’s helping him. Now come on, we don’t have all day.”

Oikawa shook his head again. “I don’t want help from you,” he whispered angrily. 

“Oikawa please,” Suga said, guiding him in the direction Kuroo was pointing to. It was difficult for Oikawa to resist the movement, since he was unable to walk very well without assistance, but the look on his face displayed what he thought about receiving help from Kuroo clearly.

“We don’t have time to be kidnapped Suga-chan!” Oikawa snapped.

“Look,” Kuroo said, not denying Oikawa’s accusation of kidnapping. “Either you limp your way over to that truck with your friend, or I’m gonna throw you over my shoulder and carry you there. It’s your choice.”

He grumbled a lot but eventually Oikawa gripped onto Suga and they began making their way over to the truck, which Bokuto was thankful for because that means he was able to head over as well; Akaashi’s weight was beginning to get a little much for him. 

When they finally reached the truck Noya was ready, grabbing a handful of bandages without even looking up at them. “Alright which one of you losers got hurt enough that you need immediate medical attention that can't wait until we meet up with someone who actually knows what they're doing?”

Kuroo nodded over at Suga who was dragging over a pretty pissed off looking Oikawa. Bokuto could see the look of nonrecognition that flashed across Noya’s face and he glanced curiously at Kuroo. He simply nodded once and Noya got to work bandaging his knee. 

Bokuto’s attention was pulled away as he felt a tugging on the side of his shirt. 

“Kenma! Hey buddy,” he greeted as he looked down to see the smaller man gripping the fabric. “Are you okay?”

Kenma nodded. “Are you? Kuroo was worried when you ran off.” He stated it like a fact but Bokuto could hear the slight reprimand in his tone. 

“Ah sorry about that,” he apologized, glancing down for a moment before back up to where Kuroo was standing. Kuroo was worried about him? He supposed he shouldn’t be  
surprised but it was different to hear Kenma actually say it.

Shrugging his shoulders, Kenma’s sharp gaze moved over to Akaashi. Bokuto watched his eyes carefully, searching for any sign of apprehension or fear. Kenma’s instincts were reliable and if he felt uncomfortable around Akaashi or the others, Bokuto was seriously going to reconsider offering them any help.

But Kenma’s gaze remained impassive, the slightest hint of curiosity sparkling in his eyes. There was no negative reaction and Bokuto let out a breath. He returned his attention back to the group.

“Should we tie them up or something?” Tanaka was asking hesitantly, almost like he didn’t want to be the one to suggest it.

Bokuto pulled Akaashi a little tighter against his side. The mental image of Akaashi being bound and restrained made him feel slightly sick. He wasn’t totally sure where this protectiveness was coming from, since he didn’t even know Akaashi well enough to be feeling this strongly. They’d saved each others’ lives but that’s about it. There’s no reason for Bokuto to have this connection with him - he had saved many people’s lives since the apocalypse began.

Fortunately, Noya seemed to share Bokuto’s view on the suggestion. He glanced up at his friend with a judgemental look. “Tanaka what the fuck? Is that a kink of yours or something?” He tried to ask the question seriously but there was a grin tugging at his lips.

Tanaka’s face turned bright red as his mouth dropped open. “What?! N-no! That’s not what I meant!” he stuttered, taken off guard by the question. 

“You’re getting really flustered Tanaka,” Kuroo joined in, his wicked grin matching Noya’s. “I know you’re single right now and everything but isn’t it a bit forward to just throw your fetishes out there like that? You hardly know the guy.”

Bokuto was doing his best to support Akaashi as he howled with laughter. 

Oikawa, who was sitting in front of Noya with his knee half bandaged, looked angry. “The only one who can tie me up is Iwa-chan,” he snapped, but Bokuto was unsure if the others heard it over their teasing. 

“Oh my God Oikawa, please shut up,” Suga muttered, covering his face with his hands. 

“I ONLY MEANT,” Tanaka yelled, trying to make himself heard over Noya and Kuroo who would not let up on the teasing. “That it would be smart in case they decide to attack us or something!” 

Noya laughed as he finished tying the bandage around Oikawa’s leg. “One of them is bleeding and the other is unconscious,” he pointed out, cocking his head to the side. “How do you think that’s going to work out for them?”

“A simple solution would be to have someone sit with them then,” Tsukishima suggested, talking over their argument before Tanaka had a chance to respond. “To make sure they don’t try to kill us.”

Beside him, Kuroo sighed. Bokuto knew he was wary of having dangerous people so close to their group, specifically Kenma, but he also knew that Kuroo wouldn’t want to restrain anybody that didn't directly deserve it.

“Tsukki’s right,” Kuroo said, ignoring the exasperated comment of “Don’t call me Tsukki.” 

“I’ll do it,” Bokuto volunteered. His protective instincts were apparently still present but he also thought that since it was at his request that they were bringing these people back home with them, he should be responsible for making sure that nothing went wrong. 

Kuroo raised an eyebrow as he moved towards Bokuto and helped him get Akaashi in the back of the truck. They were as gentle as possible and once Akaashi was lying safely in the truck, Bokuto settled himself beside him. Suga sat on the other side of Akaashi, between his two companions, but his attention was mainly focused on Oikawa as he asked him questions pertaining to his bleeding knee. With Suga distracted, it gave Bokuto a chance to observe Akaashi more closely.

He was… really pretty. Bokuto felt his face flush a little bit just at thinking such a thing, but now that they were out in the sunlight he was able to see his face much better. As much as he disliked that Akaashi was unconscious, Bokuto had to admit it was nice to see a different expression on his face than carefully controlled fear. He supposed it might be because he was unable to see his eyes. Akaashi’s eyes were incredibly expressive and Bokuto could easily see the terror in them when he first ran into him.

The more he looked at him, the more Bokuto realized how vulnerable Akaashi looked. He felt another bout of unwarranted protectiveness wash over him and couldn’t help but wonder what would have happened to him if he left Akaashi behind. 

Bokuto groaned as he saw Yaku get behind the wheel of the truck. Of course Kuroo would be driving the van since that’s where Kenma was but was it really so hard to have Tsukishima drive them back? Yaku’s driving was reckless and erratic and it was dangerous for passengers at the best of times. Two injured people piled in the back without any sort of seat belt was going to make for a pretty rough ride. Bokuto wondered if that was Kuroo’s intention.

As Yaku jerked out of the parking lot, proving Bokuto right, Suga and Oikawa made noises of slight panic as they jostled about. Bokuto watched as Akaashi’s head fell to the side and he immediately began to feel worried. Would it make his injury worse if he kept moving around like that? A part of Bokuto wanted to hold his head or gently rest it in his lap but both of those gestures were way too intimate for someone you just met. Besides, he didn’t think Suga or Oikawa would take too kindly to him interfering with Akaashi more than was necessary. 

When Yaku took a particularly sharp turn, everyone in the back of the truck shifted violently. Oikawa muttered out a curse as his hands immediately flew to his knee in order to stabilize it. Suga rested one hand on Oikawa’s knee and the other on Akaashi’s arm. That didn’t do anything to stop Akaashi’s head from falling heavily on the truck as Yaku flew over a bump on the road.

Tired of hearing Akaashi’s head slam into the metal beneath them, Bokuto decided he had to do something. He shrugged off his jacket, folding it a couple times so it was puffy, and placed it under Akaashi’s head. It wasn’t much but Bokuto hoped it would at least stop him from aggravating his head wound more. 

For the rest of the ride Bokuto’s eyes flickered between the landscape that was flying by them and the other passengers in the truck. Just because he trusted them didn’t mean he was going to relax in his surveillance, especially since everyone else in his group seemed pretty wary around them. 

The thought made Bokuto feel a little uneasy and he really hoped he had made the right choice and wasn’t leading three dangerous people into their home.

\-----

The wires holding his wrists together were wrapped so tight that there was barely any circulation flowing through his fingers. Iwaizumi pressed his sore shoulders back to try and stretch them out a little bit. He didn’t know how long he’d been restrained for. Once Oikawa, Suga, and Akaashi left, Katashi had immediately dragged him upstairs and secured him to this metal pole. As if Iwaizumi would try to escape the compound.

It was useless - there’s no way he was going anywhere without Oikawa by his side. He supposed he would just have to wait for that idiot to come back with the medicine and they could all figure things out from here. Unless of course he was murdered before that happened. 

The thought sent a chill down Iwaizumi’s spine and he tugged uselessly at his restraints. He couldn’t remember the last time he had worried for his own life this much. He supposed it was at the very beginning of the apocalypse but, even then, his fear for himself was quickly dwarfed by his overwhelming fear for Oikawa. If only one of them could make it out of this thing alive, he very much hoped it wouldn’t be himself. 

He gritted his teeth as thoughts of Oikawa swam through his mind, as they so often did. Even though he was sitting on this cold damp floor, tied to a fucking metal pole with wire that was turning his fingers blue, Iwaizumi couldn’t help but worry over him. Was he safe? Was he afraid? Were they able to find any medicine? Is his knee alright? Was he hurt? Was he worried for Iwaizumi? The questions flashed through his mind repeatedly and it infuriated him that he didn’t know the answer to a single one of them.

 _Was he safe?_ That was one question that stuck out in his mind the most. Likely, the answer was no. There was really no sure way to be ‘safe’ in this world anymore but Iwaizumi figured that Oikawa couldn’t be in more danger out on a supply run than he was here. 

As he sat there in the silence with only the humming of some piece of machinery coming from above him another question formed in his mind. 

_Would Oikawa be coming back for him?_

It was a loaded question and Iwaizumi had mixed feelings about what answer he wanted.

On one hand, he was terrified for himself. Katashi’s promise to kill him if Oikawa and the others didn’t come back still echoed in his head and he found himself selfishly wishing that they would return to save him.

On the other hand, Iwaizumi’s sole goal in life was to make sure Oikawa was safe and at least slightly happy; happiness was hard to come by in the apocalypse so you had to do what you could. But the best way to ensure that Oikawa was safe was to have him away from this place. And he had just been handed the opportunity to leave and not come back. Iwaizumi didn’t know if Oikawa had it in him to leave him behind - they had been through a lot together, not just during the apocalypse but throughout their whole lives. If the situation was reversed, Iwaizumi knew he would never leave Oikawa behind. But Oikawa was out with Suga and Akaashi as well and Iwaizumi wondered if they would be able to sway him into leaving. Surely the other two wouldn’t want to risk coming back just for him?

His musings were brought to an unpleasant halt as the door to the room he was in slammed open. Katashi entered the room with a rather pleased expression on his face that did nothing to soothe Iwaizumi’s growing fear.

Iwaizumi eyed him warily as he came to crouch in front of him, the irritating grin still plastered on his face. He wished his arms weren’t restrained so he could punch the smile right off his face.

“Is this really necessary?” Iwaizumi snapped, jerking his arms again against the wire to illustrate his point. 

Katashi only laughed. “Of course it’s necessary. The second you’re free to roam around I know that you would try to go out and meet Oikawa.”

Iwaizumi gritted his teeth. He knew it was no good arguing that point since that’s exactly what his plan was.

“It’s sweet that you’re so loyal to him _Iwa-chan,_ ” Katashi sneered. Iwaizumi glared at the use of Oikawa’s nickname for him coming out of someone else’s mouth. “I wonder if he’s that loyal to you as well.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” Iwaizumi snapped. As lonely as he was locked in this room by himself, the solitude was much preferred over this asshole’s company.

“Do you think he’ll come back for you?” Katashi asked. “Or do you think he’ll take this opportunity to leave and condemn you to death?”

“If he’s smart, he wouldn’t come back,” Iwaizumi stated. He was glad his voice didn’t come out shaky because the thought of Oikawa leaving him was brutal enough - it was even harder to say out loud.

Katashi hummed in agreement. “So you’re not really expecting him to come back?”

“No,” Iwaizumi answered. He felt sick but he forced himself to remember that this was the best course of action for Oikawa.

“That’s probably for the best,” Katashi said cryptically and it made alarm bells ring in Iwaizumi’s head. 

“Why? Did you come here to tell me he actually did run away?”

“I guess you could say that,” Katashi shrugged. He left for a moment before returning with a pile of white fabric that had Iwaizumi’s spine stiffening in spite of himself. 

“Tell me,” Katashi said as he held up the white and green high school jacket, not only covered in dirt but now with dark red covering the letters spelling out _Aoba Jousai._ “Do you think he’d leave this behind?”

In all honesty, Iwaizumi _didn’t_ think that Oikawa would leave his jacket behind solely because it was the one reminder of their normal life before. Oikawa had fond memories of their volleyball team and he never went anywhere without his club jacket. The letters spelling out their old high school looked eerie soaked with blood.

 _Calm down,_ Iwaizumi told himself, trying his best to hide his reaction from Katashi. _This doesn’t prove anything. Could have taken the jacket off and left it somewhere. Not a big deal._

As if he read his mind, Katashi spoke again. “Oh and, we also found this.”

There was nothing Iwaizumi could do to hide the despair on his face as a photograph of four people fluttered to the ground. It fell a little faster than Iwaizumi thought it should have and he wondered briefly if it was because of the blood that soaked the edge.

It was hard to breathe. Iwaizumi’s chest felt like there was a thousand pound weight on it pressing down and squeezing the air out of his lungs. Try as he might, there was no way for him to contort his face into the mask of calm he wanted to face Katashi with. Because there was no possible way Oikawa would leave this photograph behind. Oikawa couldn’t be...

Katashi made a “tsk” sound. “I assume this means you believe me?” 

Everything in Iwaizumi wanted to protest against this sickening news. His muscles were tense and he wanted to rip through the restraints holding him back. He wanted to scream and cry and absolutely destroy Katashi because this was all his fault.

But the only thing he was able to do was sit there completely still as all of the fight drained out of him in a violent wave.

“So sorry to hear that _Iwa-chan,_ ” Katashi simpered, his voice lacking any sort of sympathy. “But it looks like Oikawa isn't going to make it back to you because he’s dead.”

A sound that he really couldn’t even describe left Iwaizumi’s throat and a silent tear escaped his eyes at the finality of the word. 

_It was Katashi,_ he reminded himself. _It was Katashi and he hates us and lies to us._

“I - I don’t believe you,” he mumbled, shaking his head quickly. His voice didn't make him sound very convincing. but he couldn’t believe him. Because the second he did, Iwaizumi’s life was over. 

Katashi laughed - he fucking _laughed_ \- and he tossed the jacket on the ground next to the photo. It fell in a bloody pile just out of Iwaizumi’s reach.

“I’ve brought you all the evidence I could,” Katashi shrugged. “Did you want me to get someone to bring his bloody corpse back to you? Would you believe me then?”

Iwaizumi couldn’t bring himself to respond. As much as he wanted solid proof of what had happened to Oikawa, he knew that if he saw his body, he would absolutely lose his mind. 

At his silence, Katashi continued. “Should I go send someone out to pick up the pieces of him and your other friends? Drag Oikawa's mangled form back here and throw it in front of you just so you can see I’m not lying? Would seeing the cold body of your dead boyfriend be enough to convince you-”

“I’ll kill you,” he whispered so quietly that his own ears barely picked up the sound. He was surprised when Katashi abruptly stopped his torturing descriptions and raised an eyebrow.

“What did you say?”

Iwaizumi forced himself to rip his gaze away from Oikawa’s smiling face in the photograph to glare up at the man that towered over him.

“This is your fault,” he choked out. “It’s your fault he’s dead and it’s your fault I wasn’t with him. And for that… I’m going to fucking kill you.”

The look of twisted amusement fell off Katashi’s face as he once again knelt down to Iwaizumi’s level. Despite the occasional tear that lingered on his face, Iwaizumi forced himself to keep steady eye contact with him, so that Katashi knew he wasn’t fucking around. 

The blow to his face didn’t even hurt at this point - nothing hurt more than the empty, hollow feeling in his chest. He almost welcomed the pain as a reminder that he actually could feel something. His head snapped to the side as Katashi’s hand connected with his cheek and when he returned his gaze to his leader, his face was full of anger. 

“You know what _Iwa-chan,_ ” Katashi snarled. “I’d love to see you try.”

Without waiting for a response, Katashi rose and stormed out of the room, leaving Iwaizumi alone with a pile of reminders of the worst thing that’s ever happened to him.

He waited as long as he could before he let his tears fall. And even then, he was sure to keep himself as quiet as possible. He wouldn’t put it past Katashi to have somebody guarding the door and he didn’t want to give them the satisfaction at listening to him wail and scream. 

So he forced the tears to fall silently and did his best to muffle his heaving breaths in his shoulder. His eyes fell to the photograph again and he came to the scary realization that he was now the only one in that photo who was still breathing. 

He was a little ashamed to admit it took him so long but eventually, Iwaizumi grieved for Suga and Akaashi as well, who Katashi had said also died. It made him sick to think about sweet Suga and polite Akaashi also being subjected to death just because Katashi went on some power trip. Not only that, but that would leave Iwaizumi completely alone.

"Not again," he sobbed out quietly between his teeth. "I can't believe I lost everyone again."

But this time it was worse, because it was Oikawa. Clenching his jaw, Iwaizumi made his decision.

He didn’t know what Katashi wanted from him, but he was broken beyond repair and he resolved to make sure Katashi didn’t get what he was after. And if it killed him in the process, then so be it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Iwa loves Oikawa so much it's sad ... Also Akaashi is most likely unconscious for an unlikely amount of time but just bear with me... Also also everyone in Daichi's group is so inherently trusting, which is why Bokuto was able to convince Kuroo to bring the three back with them - I hope it doesn't feel too easy or unrealistic 
> 
> Chapter title applies to Bokuto, because even though it's dangerous to bring Akaashi and the others back to their home but he's a little lonely and he won't let this connection he feel with Akaashi go, and Iwa, because he's so sad and stressed over the idea of Oikawa's death that he lets himself believe Katashi even though he knows how shifty he is
> 
> I appreciate literally any interaction with this story, including kudos, comments, etc
> 
> <3


	5. The Closer You Go, The More You'll Hurt

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello all~
> 
> This took so long I'm sorry - I had half of it written already but then it just became massive and I've had a hard couple weeks so I lost some motivation a little bit 
> 
> It's also like 2 am when I did my final edit of this so there might be mistakes or it might seem rushed a bit heehee
> 
> Chapter title comes from "Moonlight" by EXO (assuming the translation I found was correct) 
> 
> Chapter Warnings: mmmm there are none? I probably swear a bit but there's really no violence or anything - these kids get a bit of a break and it's a little more relationship oriented 
> 
> Thanks for reading!

When Akaashi regained consciousness, he was greeted with a pounding headache, something that was not helped by all the jostling he was doing. _What the hell is going on?_

His eyes were closed but Akaashi could feel a lot of movement coming from beside him. He wanted nothing more than to open his eyes to find out what the hell was going on, but by the pounding of his head, he knew he would have to work himself up to that. Not to mention that he didn’t know where he was or who he was with and he was a little apprehensive about opening his eyes to find out. 

Trying to remain calm, Akaashi tried to remember what happened before he lost consciousness. They were fighting with another group of people who had showed up to the same location as them, looking for medicine. He was separated from Suga and Oikawa and then the shots started. Everything after that was kind of a blur and Akaashi was unable to focus on anything except Suga and Oikawa.

He didn’t know how long he was lying there for and he wasn’t sure if he had fallen asleep or not, but after a particularly hard snap of his neck, he couldn't help but groan softly.

He tried to force himself to open his eyes but the second he did so, the bright light of what he assumed was the sun felt as if it was blinding him and he quickly closed them again. It took him a few minutes of rest before he was able to try again, this time attempting it much slower. 

His body felt heavy as he struggled to lift himself up. As he propped himself up on his elbows, he was able to make out that he was lying in the back of a pickup truck. To his side was a motel with the word _Karasuno_ scrawled on the sign outside. It was a building that Akaashi did not recognize at all.

“Hey hey hey, you’re awake!” A familiar voice exclaimed and Akaashi slowly tilted his head until his eyes fell on the stranger. The same stranger for whom he had taken this blow to the head. 

“That’s so good,” the stranger continued as he came closer, climbing into the back of the truck with him as Akaashi stared at him warily. “I was nervous you were dead or in a coma or something. That really would’ve sucked!”

Akaashi slowly nodded his agreement – it would’ve sucked if he were dead, since that was probably what Katashi’s plan was. And Akaashi hated it when Katashi got what he wanted.

Thoughts of Katashi brought his mind back to Oikawa and Suga, and Akaashi was suddenly aware of how alone he was. 

“M-my friends,” he rasped out, deciding that if this stranger meant him any harm, he would have just left him to die when he was unconscious. The thought made him feel a little more comfortable. “I was with two people and I –”

“Yeah don’t worry about those guys! Suga and Oikawa, right?”

“Yes,” Akaashi sighed in relief, not even thinking to ask why this stranger knew their names. The relief was making his headache slightly more bearable and that’s what he focused on. “Yes that’s them.”

“They’re all good,” the stranger confirmed. “You guys were pretty beat up so we brought you back with us to help you out!”

“They’re here?” Akaashi wanted to be angry that his injury had apparently dragged Suga and Oikawa down with him into the hands of these random strangers. But truthfully, he was relieved to know that he wasn’t stranded here by himself. As nice as this stranger was, he _knew_ Suga and Oikawa were safe to be with.

The stranger nodded in a friendly way and Akaashi couldn’t help but narrow his eyes. He wanted to ask why these people were being so kind to people who attacked them but having conversations was exhausting for him with this splitting headache. He wanted nothing more than to find Oikawa and Suga and that, more than anything else, is what gave him the strength to start to move.

As he struggled his way into a proper sitting position, the stranger began making attempts to help him. When his arms came towards him Akaashi couldn’t resist cringing away from his touch. While he was grateful for this stranger’s help, he was still just that: a stranger.

“I can manage,” he mumbled, trying his best not to sound ungrateful. 

“Right, sorry!” the stranger exclaimed, apparently not put off by Akaashi’s comment. He leaned back, giving Akaashi some space to move, and ran his fingers through his ridiculously spiked hair. He seemed to look a little nervous, which was laughable because Akaashi was the one in a new and potentially dangerous environment.

As he finally succeeded in pushing himself to the edge of the truck, he noticed a pile of fabric that was underneath him. “What’s this?”

“Ah sorry, that’s mine,” the stranger said as he reached over and shook out the jacket. “Yaku’s a shit driver so I figured I’d protect your head as much as I could. So you wouldn’t get even more hurt.”

It was difficult to keep the surprise off of his face. Akaashi was unused to this type of care and concern coming from anybody but Suga, and this was a perfect stranger. Before he was able to open his mouth and thank him for his kindness, a voice calling his name pulled his attention away.

Looking up, he could see Suga coming out of the doorway and heading his way. “Akaashi! You’re awake!”

By the time Suga had reached him, Akaashi had successfully slid out of the truck completely and was standing on the ground, a little dizzy but otherwise steady.

When Suga approached him, he threw his arms around him and pulled him into a brief hug. Akaashi was expecting it and although he typically didn’t love obvious signs of affection, he felt much more relaxed in Suga’s almost motherly embrace. “I’m alright Suga,” he assured, patting his friend softly on the back. “Please calm down.”

Suga pulled away with a pout. “Akaashi, you just called me Suga without an honorific. That means you’re definitely not alright.”

Before Akaashi could respond, the stranger spoke up from behind them. Akaashi had forgotten he was even there, his relief at seeing Suga again momentarily taking over his mind.

“We have a doctor,” he said, hopping out of the truck and heading towards the door to the motel. “Or, well, we have a guy that knows what he’s doing more than everyone else.  
You could go see him though and he could help you out.”

Suga nodded politely. “That’s where Oikawa is,” he explained, leading Akaashi inside.

Akaashi nodded but didn’t say anything. He was confused as to why they were even here to begin with but he didn’t want to ask any questions in front of someone they didn’t know very well and could potentially be hostile.

The stranger led the way down a hallway into a room that had a lot of tables pushed together. Sitting on top of one, with his legs stretched out in front of him, was Oikawa. His face lit up as his eyes rested on Akaashi and his yell of “Aka-chan!” gained the attention of the people who were gathered around him.

“Oikawa-san,” Akaashi said, coming to wait at his side with Suga trailing behind him. His eyes flitted to the bloody knee that he was pressing a hand to. “What happened?”

At the question, Oikawa’s eyes narrowed and he evasively said “I got hit.” His explanation got the two people waiting with him to look at the three of them suspiciously and Akaashi felt uneasiness wash over him. The last thing he needed was to fall into another group of people that wanted him dead.

“Hey, where’s Asahi?” The bald guy asked, looking around the little room.

Beside Akaashi, Suga stiffened considerably, causing Akaashi to glance up at him. “Suga-san,” he asked after catching a glimpse of his shocked facial expression. “What’s wrong?”

Suga only shook his head as the bald guy’s small friend said “I’ll go get him!” as he eagerly ran out of the room. But as he went to leave through the door he bumped into someone on his way through.

“Whoa Noya,” a deep voice scolded. “Watch where you’re going.”

“Sorry Daichi,” Noya apologized quickly before darting past him. Suga stumbled backwards into Akaashi as his gaze rested on the man who was now standing in the doorway.

“Daichi?”

The newcomer’s eyes widened as they left the short kid and came to rest on Suga. 

“Koushi?” Daichi asked, the shock on his features mirroring Suga’s. “I mean - Suga? Is – is that really you?”

Akaashi glanced at Oikawa who mouthed “Koushi?” with wide and confused eyes. Akaashi shrugged in response. Suga had never mentioned anybody he knew well enough to call him by his given name. Everyone else in the room looked to be just as confused, so apparently Daichi hadn't mentioned it either.

“Yeah,” Suga breathed out and Akaashi couldn’t help but notice the way his eyes lit up. “Been a while.”

Daichi nodded, seeming to be at a loss for words. He stepped slowly into the room and came to a stop a couple feet away from Suga. If he hadn’t known Suga, Akaashi would have been thoroughly intimidated by Daichi. Besides being built incredibly well, the guy also had bruises covering the lower half of his jaw and neck. Akaashi could see Suga’s eyes narrowing on the purple across Daichi’s jaw and he opened his mouth, presumably to ask what happened, but before he could, another voice came from the doorway.

“S-Suga?” 

They shifted their gaze to the doorway to find Noya had come back with a very tall man following behind him.

“Asahi too?” Suga asked, his gaze flickering from Asahi to Daichi, who nodded at him.

“Oh my God Suga, we thought you were –”

“I’m not,” Suga cut across with one of his reassuring smiles. “I’m okay.” Akaashi and Oikawa shared another look. _Could you really consider yourself ‘okay’ when we’re being threatened by the group of people who are supposed to help save us?_

“But my friends are hurt,” Suga added, gesturing to both Akaashi and Oikawa. “Please, can you help them?” he asked, bowing formally after his request. 

Daichi and Asahi exchanged a glance before Asahi scrambled forward. “O-oh, of course I can! So what happened?”

Each Oikawa and Akaashi relayed the events that led up to their injuries. Oikawa’s injury apparently looked much worse than it was; he fell on his bad knee wrong, which caused the swelling, and cut himself on some glass on the ground, which was where the blood came from. Akaashi was diagnosed with a possible concussion - Asahi couldn’t say for certain - with instructions to stay awake for the next few hours to try and make sure he was alright. Asahi had given each of them painkillers, the sight of the medicine sparking an interest in Oikawa’s eyes.

“That’s about all I can do,” he said as he passed each of them a glass of water. “I’m not a real doctor or anything and of course supplies and stuff are scarce around here…”

“Thank you Asahi-san,” Akaashi said politely as Oikawa mumbled his own thanks. “We appreciate you taking the time to help us.”

“Oh, it’s nothing!” Asahi assured, waving his hands slightly in front of him. “I just wish I could do more.”

 _What is it with everyone in this place being so nice?_ Akaashi thought. _It’s unnatural to want to help strangers so much, especially nowadays._

“Asahi, can I talk to you outside?” Daichi asked abruptly, standing up and walking out without waiting for a response. Asahi, as well as the other people that were in the room,  
slowly filed out after him. Suga’s eyes lingered on the doorway before he brought his full attention back to Akaashi and Oikawa.

“Are you guys _actually_ okay?” he asked worriedly, the calm mask he wore deteriorating just a tiny bit.

“No Suga-chan, I am not fucking okay,” Oikawa snapped, crossing his arms. The movement caused his knee to jostle and he winced slightly. “I’ve busted up my knee so badly that I can hardly walk, Aka-chan’s been drifting in and out of consciousness for who knows how long and if he falls asleep he may never wake up, and you’re distracted by being reunited with your long lost boyfriend while my boyfriend is being held hostage by some psychopath whose intent is just to make our lives miserable!” He huffed out an angry breath before asking “What the fuck does Katashi even want?”

Akaashi narrowed his eyes at the question, choosing to ignore Oikawa’s rude stream of comments for the time being. “What do you mean?” he asked as Suga mumbled quietly “He isn’t my boyfriend.”

“Regardless of what you guys think, I am not incompetent. I didn’t just trip down the stairs due to my own stupidity. I was pushed by one of those idiots Katashi made come with us.”

“What?” Suga asked. “Why would he do that?”

Oikawa shrugged. “Beats the hell out of me. Maybe he didn’t want us to come back because he wants Iwa-chan to think we abandoned him. Which we have, by the way.”

“Nobody has abandoned Iwaizumi-san,” Akaashi sighed, irritated that he even had to explain that to Oikawa.

“Um, since you’ve been unconscious Aka-chan, you wouldn’t know that we’ve been driven god only knows how far in the exact _opposite_ direction of home and are now being held captive by this group of strangers and have no way of getting back.”

“We aren’t being held captive,” Suga protested. He looked desperately between Akaashi and Oikawa and Akaashi could clearly see his distress. “You were both hurt and we had no way of transportation to get back and I didn’t know where we were! We needed help and they were offering it!”

“You’re blinded by your feelings for your old friend,” Oikawa accused with narrowed eyes.

“No I’m not! I didn’t even know Daichi was with them when I made that call!”

“You’re blinded by your dedication to Iwaizumi-san,” Akaashi pointed out before Oikawa could argue. “You’re unable to see that Suga-san made the best choice he could in the circumstances and we’re better off for it.”

Oikawa opened his mouth to respond but Suga beat him to it. “Please Oikawa, just listen. The people here are kind, we could stay here and –”

 _“We are not leaving Iwa-chan behind,”_ Oikawa spit out venomously.

Akaashi’s patience ran out at Oikawa’s ridiculous proclamation. His head was pounding and he was annoyed at his orders to not fall asleep. He didn’t know where he was or who the people around him were, and that worried him. The one thing he didn’t need was for Oikawa and Suga to fight with each other.

“Could you relax for like three seconds?” he snapped, eyes flashing over to the stubborn man, his voice clipped with barely suppressed irritation. “Of course we aren’t leaving Iwaizumi-san behind. I’m insulted you even thought we would consider doing that – just because Suga-san and I are not dating him doesn’t mean we don’t care about his well-being too. Now would you please just shut up and let Suga-san explain himself?”

Oikawa had the grace to look a little sheepish at getting berated by Akaashi and his face settled into a pout. It was the same face Oikawa made when Iwaizumi yelled at him. Sighing much like Iwaizumi did at the childish gesture, Akaashi turned to Suga. “Suga-san?”

“I know you’re worried about him,” Suga said, his voice falling back into its usual reassuring tone, albeit it took him a little while. “I know that and I am too. I’m not saying we are going to leave him. But you can’t walk, we don’t know where we are, and we have no way of getting back. Plus, we don’t have any of the supplies Katashi asked for, so even if we were to go back now, we’d be in trouble. It wouldn't do Iwaizumi any good.”

Akaashi could see the reasonable points of Suga’s argument clicking in Oikawa’s brain and his pout lessened slightly. 

“I was friends with Daichi,” Suga continued. “But that was a long time ago and now I’m friends with you. Please trust me when I say that I’ll do whatever I have to in order to get us back to Iwaizumi.”

Oikawa let out a heavy sigh and Akaashi could see the fight leave his body, replaced by fear. “I’m scared for him,” he murmured, and Akaashi was not surprised to see tears well up in his eyes. 

Suga smiled sympathetically and reached out to rest a comforting hand on his arm. “I know.”

“Suga.”

Daichi’s voice from the doorway interrupted their conversation and caused them all to jump. “Can I talk to you?” he asked. Akaashi noticed he almost looked nervous to ask. It was almost funny to see the intimidating looking Daichi be nervous about asking the smaller and kinder looking Suga for a simple request.

Suga nodded and as he stood up, Oikawa whispered “Tell him as little as possible.” Suga looked confused, but unable to ask any more clarifying questions with Daichi right there, he nodded again, turning and leaving the room. 

It was quiet for a moment before Oikawa said “I’m sorry Aka-chan, for being so rude.”

Akaashi shook his head. His irritation had now vanished and he felt bad for snapping at Oikawa when he was so obviously just concerned for Iwaizumi. “It’s understandable” he reasoned. “You’re worried for him.”

“I’m worried for all of us,” Oikawa corrected with a meaningful look that almost made Akaashi smile. “I really am. It’s just… I feel like something really bad has happened to him and… He’s not here so I don’t know…”

“He’s okay,” Akaashi assured. And he wasn’t lying. There was a very large part of him that believed Iwaizumi was okay – he was strong enough to make it through just about anything, especially if that meant he’d be with Oikawa by the end of it. 

Oikawa only bit his lip in response. “I really hope you’re right,” he said. Although it wasn’t incredibly late in the day, Oikawa looked absolutely exhausted. Akaashi could see the subtle hints of pain colouring his features. “Get some sleep,” he instructed. “I’ll wait until Suga-san comes back.”

“Are you sure?” Oikawa asked, but his elbows were already lowering him to lay down on the table he was propped on. “You won’t’ fall asleep, right? You’re not supposed to!” 

“I will not fall asleep,” Akaashi promised. “At least one of us should get some rest.”

Oikawa took him at his word and it was only a couple of minutes before he could hear the deep breathing of his friend. Perhaps sleep would give Oikawa a short refuge from the terrible reality he was currently living without Iwaizumi. Akaashi wondered if he had gotten any sleep the previous night before they had left on their supply run. 

He dragged a chair over to the window and settled into it. If he had to stay awake for hours, he would need something to focus on. Glancing out the window offered him a view of a small courtyard down in the back of the motel. The chain link fence that surrounded a dusty area and a small pool didn’t do much to keep the zombies out and away. Akaashi could make out a few bodies littering around the pool. 

He thought a motel was an interesting choice for a home in this type of environment. It wasn’t incredibly secure and the doors looked like they were able to be broken down with little force. But Akaashi supposed that if it had suited them for long enough then there was probably something he was missing. 

Staying awake was harder than Akaashi thought it would be. Without the distraction of Suga and Oikawa talking to him it was more difficult to keep his eyes from closing. He tried to focus his gaze on the unfamiliar landscape of trees and the motel around him. The uncomfortable feeling of disorientation came rushing back and Akaashi squinted, trying to find something that could point them back in the direction of home.

\-----

Daichi asked for Asahi to follow him out of the room but that was really everyone’s cue to follow him out. 

He led them down to the larger room that they used for strategy and planning out supplies runs. This was the room where a lot of their big group decisions were made and Bokuto knew exactly what was coming. 

Kenma and Yaku were already waiting in there while the rest of the group filed in. Bokuto followed Kuroo in, who made a beeline for Kenma and dropped into the seat next to him. 

Daichi let out a sigh as he entered the room and made his way to his seat to sit down. He looked tired - much more so than Bokuto remembered seeing. Maybe meeting up with an old, close friend took a toll on his emotions. Bokuto assumed the same thing would happen to him if he were in that situation.

“Are we here to talk about the weird strangers we hauled back?” Noya asked, always getting right to the point. 

“They aren’t weird Noya,” Asahi admonished as Noya leaned on the back of the chair Asahi was sitting in.

“Well maybe Suga isn’t,” Noya amended. “But you and Daichi know him. The other two could be complete freaks and we would have no idea!” 

“Suga wouldn’t associate himself with anyone dangerous,” Asahi shrugged, addressing everyone in the room with his comment. Bokuto cast a glance beside him at Kuroo, who was drumming his fingers on the table. He looked as though he really wanted to contribute to the discussion but was carefully choosing his words before he did so.

“Look,” Daichi said, cutting off Noya’s response. “I know it’s risky, inviting new people to live with us in this environment. And I know it’s not fair of me or Asahi to put personal feelings about Suga before the safety of the group. We’re both aware of that.”

He paused for a moment before continuing. “That being said… I’ve known Suga for a long time. I was with him at the beginning of the apocalypse with Asahi and we got separated. If you’d be willing, I’d really appreciate you letting him and his friends stay here, if they want.”

Asahi nodded beside him, indicating that his views were the same as Daichi’s. 

Noya spoke up again. “Well I mean I see the risks,” he said, shifting to lean on Asahi’s shoulder instead of the chair. “But they seem like okay people. If they’re looking for a safe haven, I don’t see why we can’t be that for them.” 

“It’s a nice gesture,” Kuroo started. “But it’s really dangerous to just assume that your friend is the same person he was when you knew him. This world is fucked up and it changes people. It’s just really dangerous to put ourselves at risk to help people who didn’t even really want it in the first place.”

Bokuto thought that wasn’t exactly a fair assessment. It was pretty clear to him that Akaashi, Suga, and Oikawa were terrified of other people and that's why they were so wary about coming back with them. He saw it in the way Oikawa refused to get medical attention and the way Suga’s eyes darted to everyone, as if he were constantly on the lookout for a threat. But Bokuto saw it most obviously in the way Akaashi reacted when he first met him. He kept his gun trained on him even when there were zombies almost right on top of him. If he considered Bokuto a bigger threat than undead people who ripped flesh off the living and ate it, then he definitely had some bad experiences with other living people in the past. 

Daichi nodded at Kuroo, taking his opinion with a pretty passive face. It was times like these where Bokuto really appreciated Daichi as a leader. If anybody was talking about Bokuto’s friends being untrustworthy or dangerous, he knew he wouldn’t be able to stay that calm.

“I agree with Kuroo,” Yaku said. “We don’t need the group to be any bigger and it might be wiser to just let them do their own thing and we do ours.” 

Daichi nodded again and everyone fell silent. Bokuto watched as Kenma reached over and tugged at Kuroo’s sleeve. When he looked over, Kenma held out his completed rubik’s cube, silently asking Kuroo to mix it up for him. Kuroo took the cube and dutifully set to work mixing up the colours. 

It was such a small action, one Bokuto had seen a million times before. But when he just focused on the two of them, it seemed like the rest of the shitty world fell away and nothing was different. Kuroo and Kenma’s relationship had barely changed throughout the entire end of the world and their interactions gave off some sense of normalcy. Bokuto thought if they had the opportunity to act like that here, because they know they are safe and around people who are nice and trustworthy, then everyone should have that opportunity. 

Apparently Bokuto wasn’t the only one watching Kuroo and Kenma because Daichi interrupted them by asking “Kenma? What do you think?”

Kenma hunched his shoulders at being addressed directly but he maintained eye contact with Daichi as he slowly answered. “I think they should stay. If they want.”

Kuroo’s hands froze on the cube as he listened to Kenma’s response. Yaku was looking at him strangely and Noya looked surprised. Nobody had expected this answer coming from the groups best strategist. 

“Really?” Daichi asked, unable to completely hide the surprise in his tone. “Why’s that?”

Kenma shrugged, looking a little uncomfortable at being asked to explain himself in front of a large group of people. “I don’t know. I don’t see a reason they shouldn’t. It was kind of the same situation with Shouyou and he appreciated it.”

Kuroo sighed as he handed the rubik’s cube back to Kenma. Clearly hearing his opinion didn’t change his mind on the matter.

“That’s a little different though,” Tanaka said. “Hinata and Kageyama were in trouble and we just helped them out. These guys were actually firing at us.”

“Not all of them,” Bokuto couldn’t help pointing out. “They weren’t in the group of people who shot Kuroo.” If they had been, Bokuto thinks he might view this situation a little differently. “And Akaashi’s head injury came from shoving me out of the way. Why would he save me if they were firing at us?”

Tanaka shrugged but he didn’t look entirely convinced. 

“Alright,” Daichi said when nobody else offered any more comments. “I guess we’ll put it to a vote then.”

Out of the eight people that were in the room, three of them voted that the newcomers shouldn’t be allowed to stay while the other five were in favour of giving them a chance. Daichi sighed.

“I had hoped it could be unanimous,” he said. “So until then I think they should just stay in the medical room as much as possible and make sure that there are people watching them? Not obviously of course but just as a supervising kind of thing.”

Kuroo still looked troubled but he readily nodded to Daichi’s suggestion, perhaps knowing that was as good as a suggestion he was going to get. Bokuto was having trouble containing how excited he was about the fact that he had a chance to get to know Akaashi a little better. He watched as Daichi turned in the direction of the medical room and wondered if he was going to talk to Suga. 

Bokuto left the room with Kenma as Kuroo and Yaku walked slightly ahead of them. They were talking in lowered voices but it was still obvious to Bokuto that they were annoyed with the decision that had been made and were exchanging their thoughts.

Kenma huffed in frustration beside him and Bokuto didn’t think anything of it until he felt a hand tap on his arm.

“Kuroo did a terrible job mixing this up,” he mumbled as he raised his rubik’s cube to Bokuto’s face. “Can you do it?”

“Kuroo’s just worried,” Bokuto said as he took the cube. “You know how he gets, especially when you’re involved.”

Kenma only sighed. “If we turn people away, we’ll only isolate ourselves. Risky or not, you have to trust people.”

Bokuto was glad he was on the same side of the argument Kenma was. He had a way of making his opinion seem like the obvious answer and in a world full of uncertainty, Bokuto appreciated that.

As they turned the corner of a hallway, they ran into Lev.

“Kuroo-san! Yaku-san!” he greeted loudly, waving his arm in a dramatic fashion. Beside Bokuto, Kenma groaned.

“Stop yelling,” Yaku scolded immediately. “You’re being far too loud.”

“Ehh? Did the meeting not go the way you wanted Yaku-san? You’re making that weird face you do when you’re angry.”

“I don’t make a weird face!” Yaku shouted over Kuroo’s snorting laughter.

Lev was unperturbed by Yaku’s yelling and he fell into step with them as they made their way down the hallway. “So are those new guys gonna stay with us?”

Kuroo sighed. “For now, it would seem yes.”

“Alright!” Lev cheered, making Kenma glance up to glare at him. “New friends!”

Yaku snorted. “Yeah, we’ll see about that.”

“Does Yaku-san not like the new people?” Lev asked, confusion plainly showing on his face. “Why not?”

“It’s not that I don’t like them,” Yaku grumbled. “It’s just… we don’t know anything about them and it’s dangerous to bring people like that into a space that’s supposed to be safe.”

“It’s not like they’re free to roam around though,” Bokuto pointed out. He wondered what Akaashi and the others would have to do to earn the trust of Kuroo and Yaku. “So as long as people stay focused on watch then we should really have no problems.” 

“Bokuto-san’s right,” Lev nodded enthusiastically. “I want to guard outside their rooms first so I can meet them.”

“That’s not happening,” Yaku deadpanned, not breaking his stride even a little bit. Kuroo’s eyebrows shot up and he glanced back at Bokuto with a grin, which Bokuto returned as they waited for Yaku’s explanation.

“Yaku-san! Why not?”

It took Yaku a couple seconds before he answered. “Because they’re injured and tired and you’ll just annoy them with your constant talking.”

“Kind of like how you annoy us,” Kuroo said, but the smirk on his face let Lev know he wasn’t being serious. Well, not completely. 

“But Yaku-san,” Lev protested. “If you hate them, then wouldn’t me annoying them be a good thing?”

“Not if you annoy them enough to make them want to kill us,” Yaku shot back. He paused before slowing to a stop. “Besides… I don’t hate them, Lev. I’m just… being cautious. That’s all.”

“With good reason,” Kuroo couldn’t seem to help but point out, cutting off whatever Lev was going to say next. “Since they were with a group of people who shot at us.”

“You guys got shot at?” Lev asked, whipping around to stare at each of them in shock. 

“Yeah,” Bokuto confirmed, nodding in Kuroo’s direction. “Kuroo even got hit by a bullet.”

 _“That’s_ why you have a bandage?” Lev exclaimed, his eyes zeroing in on the white fabric on Kuroo’s bicep. “I thought it was just a scratch or something!”

Kenma looked up at this conversation topic and his gaze also rested on the bandage. If he looked hard enough, Bokuto could see lingering concern creeping into his eyes. 

When Kuroo nodded in confirmation, Lev gaped. “What? Yaku-san! Tell me what happened! Are you okay?”

Yaku sighed, apparently getting ready to give Lev a description of what happened on their run, when Kenma reached up and tugged at Kuroo’s shirt, maybe a bit harder than he typically would if he was just trying to get his attention. Bokuto could recognize the discomfort in the action, so of course, Kuroo did as well. 

“Have fun with the retelling Yaku. We’ll see you guys around,” Kuroo said as his way of dismissing himself and Kenma, who was now rather tightly pressed against Kuroo’s side. “Bo, try not to think too much about that Akaashi guy, alright?” 

Bokuto laughed at his friend as he turned and continued down the hall on his own. As soon as Kuroo mentioned him, all his curiosity about Akaashi came flooding back and Bokuto wondered how long he would last before he broke down and went to visit him.

\-----

Being around Daichi used to be easy, completely effortless. He was the one person that Suga never had to hide anything from and he had certainly never felt afraid of him before.

Things change.

The world they were living in changed, and their relationship had to change accordingly. 

He hadn’t had the nerve to say anything as they walked, so they walked in silence, Daichi’s unusually hesitant tone of voice was replaying over and over in his head and it made Suga anxious. 

He could feel Daichi glancing at him almost continuously, as if he was afraid he would disappear if he looked away for too long. He looked at him like Suga was a ghost. And he supposed he was, in a way. If Daichi had really believed him to be dead for so long, seeing him show up alive and relatively healthy must’ve been a shock, to say the least.

Daichi led him to a door at the end of a hallway and gestured for him to go inside.

“Is this your room?” Suga asked quietly as he looked around. There were no personal touches anywhere, but that was to be expected. It was difficult to have possessions when you didn’t have a specific home.

“Ahh yeah. I used to share with Asahi but he moved in with Noya so… Now it’s just me.” Daichi explained as he closed the door behind them. As he heard it click shut, Suga involuntarily tensed up. Closed doors typically meant locked doors, which meant no escape.

Daichi seemed to notice his reaction, because he came up to his side slowly, as if he didn’t want to frighten him. “Suga? Are you alright?”

Suga cleared his throat. “I’m fine.” He thought his voice sounded a little strained but Daichi didn’t comment on it. He felt angry and ridiculous at how nervous he suddenly got. This was Daichi - there was nothing Suga needed to be afraid of. But no matter how many times he told himself that, he was unable to completely erase the fear that was bubbling inside him.

“Okay - uh… Do you want to sit down so we can talk?” Daichi gestured awkwardly to the bed and chair he had in his room. 

Nodding, Suga decided to take a seat on the bed. Daichi took the chair and pulled it so he was sitting opposite of Suga. 

It was quiet for a long time as Daichi just sat there and stared at him. After a while, Suga started to feel a little uncomfortable and he wondered if Daichi even noticed how much he was staring.

“So,” Suga said, breaking the silence. His voice sounded much louder than he anticipated and he almost winced. “Have you decided if you’re going to kill me?”

As he expected, the comment shocked Daichi so much he started sputtering out nonsense. It comforted him to see that reaction. It was always so easy to get a rise out of Daichi. He was too serious and Suga got great joy in watching that stony, tough exterior fall away into something so sweet and endearing.

“Wait, what? N-no! Of course not! Is that what you think? Is that why you seem so scared?”

The smile slid off Suga’s face. Damn. He’d hoped Daichi didn’t notice his behaviour but the man was too observant. “I’m only kidding Daichi.”

Daichi huffed. “You shouldn’t joke about things like that,” he mumbled. “Not when I actually thought…”

“I’m sorry,” Suga said quickly, cutting him off before their conversation could get more personal. As much as he was excited to see Daichi again, it was important that he doesn’t get too attached since they were going to be leaving at the earliest possible moment in order to get back to Iwaizumi. And there was no way Suga was dragging Daichi into that mess - the less he knew the better. 

Daichi waved his hand. “It’s fine. What happened to you though?”

The question was asked quietly and it sounded as though Daichi was determined to get an answer out of him. Suga repressed his sigh - this was not something he wanted to talk about.

“Daichi please,” he started, unsure where his thought was headed. He wanted to stay true to his promise to Oikawa and not give too many details on their situation, but Suga was weak against the piercing look Daichi was giving him. “I’m fine.

“That isn’t what I asked,” Daichi said gently. His eyes narrowed as he searched Suga’s face, as if he could find the answer written in the crease of his frown.

“I - I can’t… There’s nothing. It’s nothing.” He was stammering and Suga knew he didn’t sound convincing in the least. But Daichi couldn’t pull the information out of him, no matter how hard he tried. Suga had already lost one person to Katashi and was determined to protect Daichi from him even if it made things harder for himself.

Daichi seemed to come to this conclusion that Suga wasn't going to tell him anything because he sighed in frustration. “Suga…”

Suga bit his lip. “Please. I’m fine. I’m just fine.”

The lie tasted bitter on his tongue as it spilled out of his mouth. Suga had never lied to Daichi before and he was annoyed that he was being forced to now.

For his part, Daichi actually looked angry, which was strange. Suga didn’t think he’d ever seen that particular look on his face, especially directed at him. If it had been on anyone else, Suga might’ve been a little afraid or uneasy. But this was Daichi.

“Just tell me this,” Daichi demanded, and Suga braced himself for whatever question was coming. “Are you safe?”

Suga didn’t know what he was expecting but it wasn’t that. He felt a twisted desire to laugh. He hadn’t felt safe in a very long time.

“Right at this moment?” he responded, carefully watching Daichi’s expression to try and find a way to soften it. “I think I’m very safe.”

The words did what Suga had intended. Daichi still looked frustrated that he wasn’t getting more information but he was content with Suga’s answer. 

“You are very safe here,” Daichi confirmed with a meaningful look. 

“Am I?” Suga asked, the teasing lilt making its way back into his voice. “What about the other people that live here?”

He was joking but there was another part of Suga that needed to know how the others felt about him, Akaashi, and Oikawa being here. If he needed to be on guard against anyone, it was important he found out now.

“There are some people that don’t agree that it’s a good idea to let you stay here,” Daichi grumbled reluctantly. He seemed to choose his words carefully but his next phrase was full of confidence. “But that doesn’t mean that you aren’t safe.”

Unless Suga was reading too much into his words, it sounded as though Daichi was willing to go against his own group just to keep Suga safe. And as flattered as that made him feel, Suga really hoped it wouldn’t come to that. He didn’t want to be part of the reason Daichi’s group fell apart.

“I see.” He gave a small smile in acknowledgement to the unspoken promise but his words were short and clipped.

“We… don’t have to talk about it right now,” Daichi assured, awkwardly leaning forward in his chair.

Suga gave him an apprehensive look. “We don’t?” 

“No, of course not. I can tell it’s making you uncomfortable,” he explained softly and Suga had to look away to break himself out of Daichi’s concerned gaze. He didn’t deserve this sympathy from Daichi when he wasn’t going to be honest with him.

Besides, he promised Oikawa he would keep their situation quiet until they figured out a plan. And it was probably best not to ask Daichi anything. He may be the leader of this group, but Suga knows him and his leadership style. He would listen to everyone’s opinions and make the judgement based off of fairness and focus on safety, whether that would be beneficial to Suga or not. And Suga wouldn’t want it any other way.

“We could talk about something else,” Daichi suggested, his voice dropping down to a whisper. 

Suga couldn’t help but bring his eyes back to look at his face. “What could we talk about?” he whispered back. 

Daichi slowly reached forward and softly placed his hands over Suga’s clenched fists that sat in his lap. He felt his body relaxing at the familiar touch and was surprised to feel tears building up behind his eyes.

“How about the fact that you’re alive?” Daichi choked on the last word and Suga could tell he was close to crying too. Well, at least he wasn’t the only one. 

He couldn’t keep his chuckle in as he turned his hands so his fingers grasped at Daichi’s. “I’m alive,” he confirmed. “Didn’t we already establish that?”

Daichi tried to glare at him but he just ended up looking slightly exasperated. He was leaning so far forward in his chair that Suga thought he would fall out of it. Eventually, he vacated the seat, instead choosing to kneel in the floor in front of Suga. The position made Suga much taller than Daichi and he soon followed him to the floor, wanting to be at eye level.

“I just didn’t think I’d see you again,” Daichi mumbled. His voice was lower than usual and it made Suga’s heart ache. 

“Well don’t worry about it now,” Suga said brightly, trying to lighten up their conversation and prevent Daichi’s tears from starting. Because if Daichi started to cry, Suga knew he would too and he would be unable to resist the temptation to throw himself into Daichi’s arms and confess everything to him. “I’m here and I’m okay.”

Daichi nodded as he let out a breath and his grip on Suga’s hand tightened slightly. “Right.”

“Besides, I want to know what happened to you,” he said, reaching his hand up to gently trace over the angry purple that covered Daichi’s jaw. 

While Suga partially wanted to direct the conversation away from himself so as not to lie to Daichi any more than necessary, he had been unable to focus on much else after he saw the injuries that covered Daichi’s face. He found it difficult to tear his eyes away when he had such an obvious bruise on his face.

Daichi laughed, the sound easing some of Suga's worry. “Oh this? It’s a little embarrassing...”

Embarrassing or not, Suga was desperate to know the story. The only image his sick mind could conjure up was somebody actively going out of their way to hurt Daichi. The thought made him uncommonly angry and he clenched his teeth as he awaited the real explanation. 

When Suga didn’t smile back, Daichi sighed. “It’s not anything serious," he assured. "One of the guys in our group - Tanaka - he ran into me while he was trying to escape some zombies and I ended up falling down off this broken ledge. Busted up my shoulder a bit and my jaw caught on a railing.”

“Daichi oh my God,” Suga couldn’t help but laugh out of immense relief. At least Daichi wasn’t in a similar position as he was with Katashi. “Of all the ways you could get hurt during the apocalypse, you fall off a ledge because of your own friend?”

“It was an accident!” he protested. When Suga didn’t stop laughing, he pouted. “I told you it was embarrassing…”

“You were right,” Suga said with a chuckle. “That is embarrassing.”

Daichi gave him a tired looking smile and Suga found it difficult to look away. It had been a long time since he had seen Daichi and Suga had thought about him a lot during his time away from him. But it had been a _really_ long time since he had seen Daichi smile. It was just a small smile but it was definitely there.

He didn’t know if it was the smile that made him do it, but something in him seemed to crack and the wall he had been trying to build up quickly crumbled. Suga twisted his body and nestled himself into Daichi’s side. Looking at his bruised face still made him annoyed but he wanted to stay close. Daichi’s arm came around him without any hesitation and Suga almost sighed in content. He was so comfortable that he let his head fall back to rest on Daichi’s shoulder.

It was quiet for a moment before Daichi spoke. “You seem pretty tired. Maybe you should head back to your friends?” 

He phrased it as a question but Suga didn’t think he was sincerely asking. “Are you kicking me out of your room?” 

Daichi jolted beneath him and his arm tightened slightly, as if he was unconsciously trying to keep Suga at his side. “What? No, that’s not what I was saying! Of course not!”

“Then do you mind if I stay?”

“Of course not,” Daichi repeated, much softer this time.

Suga hummed in content as he pushed himself closer to Daichi, aware that rekindling their close friendship when Suga was planning on leaving was a dangerous thing for both of their emotions. As much as he wanted to stay with Daichi, he knew he had to think about Akaashi and Oikawa before himself. Their main mission was to get back to Iwaizumi ASAP. 

But that didn’t mean he had to act cold towards Daichi either. Daichi hadn’t done anything wrong and Suga knew he would be hurt if he gave him the cold shoulder and ignored him. Besides, Suga wasn’t entirely sure he would have the willpower to do that anyways. 

The thoughts swirled around Suga’s head so violently that he almost wondered if Daichi could hear it. It was difficult to plan a course of action when there were so many unknowns. Oikawa wanted complete secrecy and Suga wasn’t exactly sure why. Daichi would most likely help them if they simply asked. But Suga wasn’t about to do anything that would make Oikawa even more restless than he already was.

That meant that there was nothing else Suga had to say to Daichi and he wasn’t surprised when he felt his eyes drifting shut. He could feel Daichi’s breathing beside him become a little more even and deep, signalling that he was on the verge of falling asleep as well. 

The ground was hard and uncomfortable. Daichi’s arm was curled at a strange angle and would most likely become numb if they stayed there for a couple hours, and Suga’s back was pressing into a uneven part of the bed creating a dull ache next to his spine. He was the most content he had been in months.

\-----

Bokuto’s plan to avoid bothering Akaashi lasted roughly a few hours. It wasn’t long before he was leaving Kuroo’s room and heading down to the medical room.

“Why are you so obsessed with this guy?” Kuroo asked when Bokuto told him where he was going. He sounded a little annoyed.

Bokuto was about to protest, explain that he wasn’t _obsessed_ with Akaashi, but then he really thought about it. He had only known him for a few hours and had one or two conversations with him, but already he couldn’t stop thinking about him. Did that mean he was obsessed? “You’d be obsessed with someone too if they saved your life!” he exclaimed instead of admitting that Kuroo might be right. 

“I don’t know why it bothers you so much,” Kenma said, sitting up from his position against the wall. “They’re nice. I like them.”

Kuroo wrinkled his nose as he turned to glare at his boyfriend - he hated it when Kenma didn’t agree with him. “Kitten, you don’t know them. We literally just met them, and half the time they were shooting at us.”

Kenma shrugged. “I just have a feeling,” he mumbled, returning his gaze back to his rubik's cube. 

Kuroo gave him an exasperated look before turning back to Bokuto. “Look Bo, all I’m saying is just be careful, alright?”

“Kuro’s such a worrier,” Kenma said, again drawing their attention to him. “The apocalypse has turned you into such a mom.”

“I’m not acting like a mom!” Kuroo yelled over Bokuto’s howling laughter. 

“Then stop telling Bokuto what to do,” Kenma replied. 

“Yeah Kuroo!” Bokuto exclaimed in Kuroo’s affronted looking face. “Don’t tell me what to do!” 

“I’m not telling you what to do. I’m just saying - it’s just a warning.”

Bokuto waved his hand as he exited the room, easily dismissing Kuroo’s “warning”. Kenma was right; Kuroo couldn’t tell him what to do. And what he wanted to do was go and visit Akaashi. He wasn’t sure what Kuroo was so afraid of. But if Daichi could go hang out with his old friend, Bokuto didn’t see why he couldn’t make a new one. 

The door to the medical room was shut with Tsukishima standing guard outside it with a book in his hand. It was interesting that Daichi put someone like Tsukishima in charge of the door as opposed to Tanaka or Yaku, who were more wary and strict. He wondered if it was because he didn’t view Akaashi and his friends as a threat either. 

“I’ve seen you read that book like, three times already,” Bokuto commented as a way of greeting. Tsukishima’s eyes didn’t even leave the page.

“My apologies,” he said drily. “Forgive me for not running down to a bookstore in the middle of an apocalypse and spending my abundance of money on the latest bestseller.”

Bokuto shrugged. “Somebody must have a different book you could read.” When Tsukishima looked at him with a raised eyebrow, he sighed. “Can I go in?”

Tsukishima looked disinterested. “Go for it. I think there’s only two of them in there though - Daichi hasn’t come back yet.” 

This news didn’t effect Bokuto since he was here looking for Akaashi, but he nodded anyways. “Alright nice. Thanks Tsukki!” 

As he reached for the door, he heard a disgruntled comment. “Don’t call me Tsukki.”

“Aww, come on, why not?” Bokuto prodded. Tsukishima was very easy to rile up, even if he hid it well. And Bokuto had never had a little brother to annoy all the time so Tsukishima had to put up with it now. 

“Bokuto-san, between you and Kuroo-san, I find you the least annoying. Please don’t ruin that for yourself.”

“You let Yamaguchi call you Tsukki.” Bokuto teased. “What’s that about? How come he can do it but nobody else can?”

“Yamaguchi doesn’t annoy me,” Tsukishima said calmly but Bokuto thought he saw his cheeks turning pink. It was hard to tell because he raised his book to block his face. 

“Whatever you say,” Bokuto laughed as he opened the door and entered the medical room. 

Tsukishima was correct - Daichi and Suga hadn’t come back yet so only Akaashi and Oikawa were still in the room. Judging by the soft snoring coming from the body lying on the table, Bokuto assumed Oikawa was asleep. He wondered if it had anything to do with the medication Asahi gave them or if he was just tired after the day. Bokuto was pleased to see Akaashi was staying awake, as he was instructed to do, but, as he turned his head towards Bokuto at the sound of the door opening, Bokuto could clearly see the exhaustion painted on his features. 

“Uhh, hi,” Bokuto said, shutting the door behind him and waving awkwardly. 

“Hello,” Akaashi responded politely. His eyes followed Bokuto carefully as he walked in the room and took the opposite seat. 

“I’m Bokuto,” he said lamely as he sat down. Normally he was much better at small talk but there was something about Akaashi that was a little intimidating. Plus he really wanted Akaashi to like him. "I don't think I ended up telling you that before."

Akaashi nodded once. “I’m Akaashi.”

An awkward silence stretched between them as Bokuto glared out the window and wracked his brain for something to talk about. He was coming up a little short since all topics of conversation he could think of were essentially irrelevant in an apocalypse. Any personal questions were potentially too personal but mundane things like school and hobbies didn’t really exist anymore.

“Were you not injured during that fight?”

Whether he asked because he actually wanted to know or if he was just uncomfortable with the silence as well, Bokuto didn’t know, but he was very thankful Akaashi had said something. And what was even better - he initiated the conversation.

“Ahh nope!” he answered as he looked up to meet Akaashi’s curious stare. “I got away okay, thanks to you.”

Akaashi hummed in acknowledgement and nodded again but didn’t say anything else. 

At the mention of injuries, Bokuto suddenly found himself full of curiosity as to whether Akaashi was alright or not. His head must be pounding but Asahi said he couldn’t sleep for a while. That sounded like torture to Bokuto.

“So, are you finding it difficult to stay awake?” he asked nervously.

“Not really.”

Bokuto was quiet for a minute, waiting to see if Akaashi would elaborate. When he didn’t, he prompted. “Why not?”

Akaashi just shrugged and returned his eyes back to the window. “I don’t sleep much these days.” 

Bokuto considered this. He supposed it made sense - even in the relative safety of the motel, Daichi still had people stay awake and take watch at all hours, just in case something were to happen. And before he had joined this group, Bokuto, Kuroo, and Kenma had always been wary about all of them sleeping at the same time. 

But Bokuto hadn’t been afraid to fall asleep for a long while. The idea that Akaashi might’ve felt that way bothered him - he was safe here, even if he wasn’t particularly welcomed by everyone - and he really wanted to offer a little reassurance. 

“Oh, well you don’t have to worry. It’s pretty safe here and we always have people around to make sure nothing goes wrong.”

Akaashi still looked rather apprehensive. It was hard for Bokuto to wrap his head around the fact that Akaashi might feel unsafe in this environment simply because he didn’t know anybody. Suddenly Bokuto felt very unsure of his actions and he wondered if he made the right choice, asking for Akaashi and the others to come back with them. Did he just make everything worse by dragging them to a place they didn’t even want to be? Did they have families or other friends they had left behind? Was it Bokuto’s fault they were so miserable?

“Sorry for dragging you back here,” Bokuto found himself apologizing. “I didn’t mean to put you in an uncomfortable situation or anything. I just wanted to help.”

Something akin to surprise flashed through Akaashi’s eyes as he finally met Bokuto’s gaze. “I should be thanking you.”

“Ehh?” Bokuto leaned forward in shock. “Really?”

Akaashi nodded. “Of course. You saved my life. If I had been lying there unconscious, I would most likely be dead.” 

_I was told to kill you anyway._

The threatening line echoed in his head again and Bokuto felt a tiny bit of anger flare up. Did Akaashi even know how much danger he was in? Bokuto wasn’t sure if he should warn him about it. He was here and safe with their group now and that other guy that threatened him was probably long gone. What was the point of giving Akaashi even more of a reason to be afraid?

“Ahh it was really nothing,” Bokuto mumbled, running his fingers up through his hair. “I mean I was just repaying you for saving my ass. You know, from that hit to the head. You saved my life too.”

“I don’t think that hit would’ve killed you,” Akaashi said plainly. “It might not have even knocked you out like it did me. You’re much stronger than I am.” 

Bokuto blew out a laugh at what he viewed as a compliment and glanced curiously at Akaashi. “But... if you didn’t think that the hit would kill me then why put yourself in harm’s way?” 

To his surprise, Akaashi’s mouth lifted slightly at the corner as he said “I was just repaying you for saving my ass.”

When Bokuto looked confused, he elaborated. “The undead. After you killed them, you didn’t kill me… even though I pointed my gun at you just before.” 

To Bokuto’s dismay, Akaashi’s voice had shifted back into his suspicious tone and Bokuto could almost feel him closing off. Bokuto wondered why he was already beginning to distinguish between the tones of voices Akaashi used. The unspoken question of why hung in the air between them, but Bokuto didn’t want to address it, mainly because he didn’t know the answer.

“It’s the living against the dead,” he repeated with a shrug, trying to give some explanation anyways. “Besides, it all ended up okay. I mean it sucks you and your friend were hurt but you’ll heal.” 

Akaashi blew out small breath. “That’s a very simple way of looking at things.”

Bokuto suddenly felt a little self-conscious. He supposed it was a little simple. But the apocalypse forced people to return back to a simple mindset. Most people were driven by the will to survive - a trait that humans have had ever since the beginning of time. If now wasn’t the time for simple thinking, then Bokuto didn’t know what was. 

“Yeah, I guess it is… But there’s no reason to try and make everything complicated. We all want to live and those things don’t want us to lie. Seems like a pretty easy choice.”

“It would seem so,” Akaashi agreed, although his tone of voice suggested that he was only humouring Bokuto. He opened his mouth to say something else but he was interrupted as the door opened, revealing a timid looking Asahi. 

“Sorry to interrupt,” he said as he approached Akaashi and Bokuto. “But I just wanted to check how your head was doing?”

Akaashi nodded his consent and Asahi came closer, checking for signs of a concussion and to determine if Akaashi was alright enough to sleep.

Bokuto watched Akaashi throughout the examination and he noticed how tense he was. He flinched slightly almost every time Asahi touched him. Bokuto found himself wishing Asahi would just hurry up and leave so he would stop making Akaashi feel so uncomfortable but head injuries were serious and he knew he needed to be thorough.

Eventually, Asahi timidly gave Akaashi the okay to sleep.

“I’m not a real doctor,” he reminded him as he was moving to leave. “But according to these medical books we found, you should be alright to finally get some rest.” He paused as he glanced at Oikawa who was curled up on the table top. “I brought you guys some futons so you’re not so uncomfortable on the floor or the table.”

“Futons?” Akaashi asked, a very confused look making its way onto his face.

“Um, yes,” Asahi confirmed as he walked over to the door and handed three thin futons over to Akaashi. 

“Why do you have so many?” Akaashi asked, staring as the soft fabric in his hands.

“We live in a motel,” Bokuto jumped in to answer as Asahi nodded and made his way to the door with a wave and left. “There was tons of stuff like that when we got here.”

Akaashi nodded his understand as he carefully rolled out his futon. He left the other one next to Oikawa but didn’t wake him up. 

“Are you going to be able to fall asleep, do you think?” Bokuto asked.

“I’ll admit, I am exhausted,” Akaashi responded, his eyes drifting to look at the bed almost longingly. “Why do you ask?”

Bokuto suddenly felt very bashful. “Oh um. I just… I was gonna say that I could stay here and keep you company until Suga comes back or something.” 

To his absolute surprise, Akaashi smiled a genuine smile. It lasted for a fleeting moment but it was enough to chase away the embarrassment that had flooded Bokuto after his suggestion.

“Thank you Bokuto-san, but I will be fine.”

Recognizing the finality in Akaashi’s tone and noticing the darkness under his eyes, Bokuto nodded. He made his way towards the door. “Right. Okay, well, good night Akaashi!”

“Good night Bokuto-san,” Akaashi replied. 

Bokuto gave one last wave before exiting the room and shutting the door. Tsukishima was nowhere to be found in the hallway so Bokuto assumed someone else would be along shortly to watch the door. 

His initial plan was to go visit Kuroo and tell him what a loser he was and explain that there was no way that Akaashi was dangerous and tell him about the great conversation he just had with him. However, his feet ended up taking him back to his own room without visiting his best friend. 

He collapsed on his bed and threw his arms over his face. An image of Akaashi’s smile appeared beneath his eyelids and Bokuto couldn’t help but smile back. The image remained with him until he fell asleep, finally resting after building with excitement at the idea of seeing Akaashi again the next day. 

...Maybe Kuroo was right. He may be a little obsessed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some nice DaiSuga because I love them and they're sweet :3 and the last chapter ended angsty so why not change things up a bit?
> 
> I finalllllly have Bokuto and Akaashi on a first name basis so yaay for that! And I didn't mean to have Lev in this as much as he is but I feel like he's a good way to add a little bit of humour so 
> 
> I feel like Asahi would be a good medical kind of person, not because he's interested in science anything but because he seems like he would be worrying over everyone all the time so Daichi's like ffs then learn how to patch up a wound (plus Noya probably gets hurt a lot bc he is reckeless so there's that)
> 
> ALSO since there's like little to no electricity in the apocalypse, Kenma can't play games he has things like rubik's cubes and other little games he plays instead of his PSP
> 
> I appreciate every one of you who reads this (and I'll try to have the next chapter ready a little faster)
> 
> <3


	6. Where There Is Hope, There Are Trials

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! (there's a lot of notes here just bear with me or skip them lol)
> 
> I'm back! This is one hell of a chapter. I have a very love/hate relationship with it lmfaoooo it was hard to write because I just found it sort of boring at times? I mean I'm hoping you don't and since it's so damn long I really really hope you don't haha. I don't love it but I'll edit it once I get some time away from it
> 
> Like wow I haven't uploaded for a while... I don't know why this chapter was so difficult for me to get through... It's sort of a transition chapter? All the fun stuff that I'm excited to write doesn't really happen until a bit later so I'm just a little unmotivated... that, plus I was sick for a while and just wasn't feeling it 
> 
> \----- means switching perspectives; ***** means a time skip
> 
> I feel like I should just explain real quick, because I'm pretty vague with descriptions, mainly because they aren't important to the story all that much and it's just easier if you create how they look with your own imaginations, but my picture for the motel is like the 3-E classroom from Assassination Classroom - a building kind of up in the forest that isn't super fancy or anything
> 
> Anyways, enough of my rambling!
> 
> Chapter title comes from BTS "Sea" (it's a very lovely song, highly recommend)
> 
> Chapter Warnings: It's the usual kids, swearing probably and there's actually interactions with zombies in this chapter so like wow (honestly sometimes I forget this is a zombie AU oops)
> 
> Thanks for reading!

Sleeping at _Karasuno_ was very similar to sleeping at Katashi’s warehouse in the sense that Akaashi was too anxious to stay asleep for long. Although his head had been throbbing most of the night, the panic and worry he felt didn’t allow him a reprieve for very long and he woke up countless times during the night. 

Deciding it was pointless to attempt to force himself to get any more sleep, he sat up from his futon on the floor, stretching out his arms and popping his joints that had grown stiff from being in one position the whole night. He glanced up at the window above him and squinted his eyes against the sun. He wasn’t great at judging time based on the position of the sun but he guessed it was around sometime late in the morning. His headache had also lessened, suggesting that he did get at least a little bit of sleep and it helped. 

His gaze moved to the elevated form of Oikawa on the table next to him, still sleeping soundly. Akaashi hadn’t bothered to wake him and move him to the futon - he didn’t want to risk pulling Oikawa from sleep and not having him able to find it again. He grinned lightly as he thought about how much Oikawa would most likely complain about his back hurting once he woke up.

There wasn’t any sign that Suga had returned at all during the night and Akaashi assumed he spent the night with Daichi. It was almost funny how quickly Suga attached himself to Daichi after getting here but he supposed he really shouldn’t judge since his thoughts had been consumed by Bokuto ever since he left the room last night. Although, Suga had known Daichi prior to this meeting while Akaashi had just met Bokuto, so maybe it wasn't really the same situation.

But it was ridiculous, Akaashi scoffed silently to himself, because he should not be thinking about Bokuto as much as he was, although he really couldn’t help it though. Every time he shut his eyes he was unable to get rid of the image of Bokuto’s endearing smile and kind eyes out of his head. It was frustrating, to say the least, because Akaashi didn’t know where it was coming from. He didn’t typically make friends this quickly, let alone ones that he thought about constantly. But, he admitted, it was nice to see something other than traumatic images when he closed his eyes.

He was pulled out of his thoughts by the sound of the door opening.

“What’s all this?” Suga asked from the doorway. He was alone and not accompanied by Daichi, which is not what Akaashi expected.

“Futons,” Akaashi answered softly, looking up at Suga from his spot on the ground. “Asahi-san got them out for us last night after he came to check on me.”

Suga was quiet for a moment. “That was kind of him.”

“It was,” Akaashi agreed. He refrained from mentioning how foreign of a concept kindness was nowadays, especially after months of living with Katashi. 

“Well, Daichi’s given me some food,” Suga added, holding up his hands to show the water bottle and granola bars he was currently holding. “Breakfast, I suppose.”

“Looks filling,” Akaashi remarked drily. Suga chuckled as he made his way into the room. “It certainly isn’t the most interesting food around but I didn’t have to wait until the point of starving to get it.”

“Fair point,” Akaashi conceded as Suga sat down on the futon beside him, handing over one of the bars. “I suppose one can’t be picky nowadays anyways."

Suga nodded his approval as he tore open one of the packages. They were interrupted by a bang on the door, causing Akaashi to tense and Suga to jump. They waited, eyes trained on the door, watching to see if they were going to be interrupted.

“Who’s guarding the door this morning?” Akaashi asked after it was clear that nobody was actually going to enter the room.

“A very grumpy boy with glasses, I don’t know him,” Suga answered. “I think I only know Daichi and Asahi.”

Akaashi had almost been expecting to hear Bokuto’s name, figuring he was erratic to accidentally slam into their door. His facial expression must’ve shifted into something wary because Suga slowed his movements as he looked meaningfully at him. “I know you don’t really trust them,” he said slowly. “But Daichi and the other people here are nice. We don’t have to be completely on guard.”

Everything within Akaashi wanted to argue with that, his previous thoughts about Bokuto quickly vanishing. It was easy for Suga to say things like that because he knew who some of these people were; Akaashi didn’t have that luxury. Just because Suga felt safe didn’t mean that he and Oikawa had to feel that way.

However, Akaashi had to admit that he did feel slightly more comfortable when he was around Bokuto. He was incredibly stressed last night, especially when Oikawa had fallen asleep and left him on his own with his thoughts. But when Bokuto came in and began making conversation, Akaashi almost felt comfortable, which was a very new experience. He had yet to be in a place during this apocalypse where he felt comfort and some sort of safety.

“How’s your head?” Suga asked, drawing Akaashi out of his thoughts again. “Were you able to get some sleep?”

“Yes.” He paused for a second before raising a questioning eyebrow. “Did you?”

Suga’s face turned red in embarrassment. “I managed…” he mumbled, not looking Akaashi in the eye. 

“Hmm, did you?” Akaashi asked, his tone shifting into something slightly more playful. “Though I didn’t notice you come back here last night? Does that mean you were staying in somebody’s room?”

“Come on Akaashi,” Suga implored. “Don’t tease me! It’s nothing! I just spent some time catching up with Daichi and we ended up falling asleep! That’s all!”

“Of course it was Suga-san,” Akaashi nodded “I believe you.”

Suga pouted but didn’t offer any more comments, shoving his granola bar into his mouth. A comfortable silence descended between them that only lasted for a few minutes before they were disturbed by a sleepy comment of “Oh! Suga-chan! I see you’ve finally decided to rejoin us.” 

Suga sighed in defeat as Oikawa woke up fully, slowly sitting up on the table, being mindful of his knee, and stretching out his back. When he caught sight of the futons Akaashi and Suga were sitting on, he let out an indignant squawk.

“What the hell Aka-chan?” he asked as he slowly began to shift himself off the table in order to sit down with them. Suga immediately stood up and helped him. “We got something comfortable to sleep on and you let me lie on the hard table all night?”

Akaashi rolled his eyes. “I didn’t want to wake you once you had fallen asleep, just in case you were having trouble.”

Oikawa grumbled as he finally got settled, taking his share of their breakfast from Suga. “...I guess that’s nice of you,” he grumbled.

Akaashi raised his eyebrows in acknowledgement but quickly turned to his own thoughts when the conversation turned to Iwaizumi, as Akaashi knew it would. It was part of the reason why he didn’t want to wake Oikawa up the previous night, in case he began looking for more assurances of Iwaizumi’s safety. As much as he wanted to be supportive for his friend, Akaashi knew he wasn’t very good at it, especially compared to Suga. There was only so many times he could tell Oikawa that Iwaizumi was probably fine before it started to just sound like empty words.

The conversation shifted subjects quickly though, much to Akaashi’s surprise.

“Did you see all that medicine they had?” Oikawa was asking. “It’s like they have their own little shop or something.” 

“It was impressive,” Suga admitted. “I wonder where they got it all from. There doesn’t seem to be too much around here… it’s pretty remote.”

Oikawa waved his hand. “Whatever, that’s not important. What’s important is that they have medicine to spare and we need some.”

Suga nodded. “Alright. What else do you think we need?”

“Weapons, probably,” Akaashi suggested. 

“Yeah I’d rather not walk back into Katashi’s place without something to defend myself,” Oikawa agreed. “They must have weapons lying around here somewhere, right?”

“We also need to know where we are and how far away from Katashi’s warehouse we are,” Akaashi added.

“Okay,” Suga sighed. “What’s the best way to do all of that?” 

“Are they going on any supply runs soon?” Oikawa asked. “That’s a good way to find out the answer to all of those questions.”

“I have no idea,” Suga said. “I haven’t heard anything.” Akaashi shook his head - he also hadn’t heard any plans about a supplies run but that didn’t mean much. Akaashi really hadn’t had a conversation with any of them and they were nowhere near close enough on a personal level to have conversations about supplies.

“Oh come on Suga-chan,” Oikawa whined. “You mean you spent all night with that guy and you didn’t learn anything?”

“I could hardly just walk into his room and start interrogating him about how he runs his group,” Suga snapped as he began to lose his temper. “The more polite we are, the better. There are people here who want us gone, so if we make too many enemies, then it’ll be impossible to find everything we need.”

Oikawa exchanged a look with Akaashi before tentatively saying “Suga-chan, do I have you on my side?”

“Oh my God Oikawa, we already went over this -”

“I’m sorry,” Oikawa said, talking over him.” I know and I love you and everything but Iwa-chan is my top priority and I really couldn't care less about how things work out for you with that super buff guy.”

“I just think that if you would let me ask Daichi for help then this could be easier. That’s all.”

Oikawa grimaced. “We can’t risk him saying no or the others in the camp being angry about it. It sucks but it’s better if we just handle it ourselves.”

“Oikawa-san is right,” Akaashi agreed, jumping into the conversation. “It’s better not to risk it.” He didn’t want to betray these people either. Daichi and Bokuto seemed like good people and he hated the idea of taking advantage of their kindness. However, there were people here who glared at him any time they saw him and Akaashi definitely didn’t think asking him for help would end well.

Suga was quiet before nodding. “Alright. I understand.” 

Oikawa looked a little sympathetic as he offered Suga a small smile before continuing to ask him questions. Akaashi looked on curiously. He felt bad for Suga - it was so obvious he didn’t want to do anything to betray Daichi. Akaashi wondered how he would feel if he suddenly ran into one of his old friends during this apocalypse.

Although, he supposed it wasn’t really the same thing, since Suga clearly had a very close relationship with Daichi, which was something Akaashi never had with any of his friends from before.

He shook his head and forced himself to return to the conversation at hand, listening to Oikawa’s theories on how they could find out where everyone kept all their supplies. None of them were very realistic, since Oikawa always made himself a large part of the plans only to have Suga remind him that he couldn’t walk with his injury and was therefore unlikely to really be contributing all that much to their hunt for information and supplies. 

In the end, he settled for waiting a couple days to establish relationships and explore the motel before they tried anything too drastic. 

When making the plan (could you even really call it a plan?), Oikawa was incredibly restless and Akaashi wondered how long he would be able to hold on before demanding they leave immediately and go straight back to Iwaizumi. Akaashi just hoped that when Oikawa’s patience reached its limit, they had more information than they do right now.

*****

Much to Oikawa’s dismay, it took a while before they were able to figure out a way to gain any valuable information. However, Akaashi thought that this could be beneficial to them - the longer they stayed here without causing any trouble, the more people began to trust them. While Oikawa hadn’t really made any friends, mainly due to the fact that he wasn’t able to walk very well with his knee, Suga had spent a lot more time with Daichi and Akaashi had become closer to Bokuto.

It wasn’t really Akaashi’s plan to get closer to the wild-haired man but he frequently came by to talk to Akaashi specifically. It was thanks to Bokuto that Akaashi ever left the room and ventured out through the rest of the motel. He had dragged him around to a couple different places and Akaashi was beginning to learn more about the layout and location of where they were staying, but it was nothing more than general information.

Things changed the day that Bokuto burst into the medical room, lamenting about how bored he was, complaining to Akaashi without caring, or noticing, that Oikawa was listening in with an annoying grin on his face. For his part, Oikawa seemed to find Akaashi’s friendship with Bokuto rather funny and he loved it when Bokuto came to see Akaashi during the days and he was awake so he could sit in the corner and tease Akaashi with knowing looks.

“Daichi always says that boring is good,” Bokuto was saying. “But it gets really old after a while you know?” He leaned backward in his chair, tilting his head up until his neck was fully extended and he was gazing up at the ceiling. 

“You need a hobby,” Akaashi suggested, his hand automatically patting the empty pocket of his jacket. Typically, that’s where he kept his small book but he hadn’t thought to bring with him on the supply run, not expecting to not return to the compound immediately. 

“I have hobbies,” Bokuto said a little bit defensively, sitting back up in his chair to look at Akaashi. “They’re just all really hard to do when it’s not safe to go outside. 

“You need a new hobby,” Akaashi corrected. His lips twitched into a small smile as Bokuto let out a loud, dramatic sigh, but he quickly let it fall from his face as he noticed Oikawa watching him.

“What’s your hobby Akaashi?” Bokuto asked, drawing his attention back to him.

Akaashi hesitated briefly before giving an answer. He was being very careful about getting too close to Bokuto, not wanting to make a friend that he would eventually have to leave. However, perhaps it was a little silly to worry about simply telling Bokuto about his hobbies.

“I like to read,” Akaashi said after a moment. 

Bokuto let out a loud laugh, his hands slapping his knees. “I knew it! You look like the type.”

Akaashi raised his eyebrow. “What do you mean by that?”

“Oh uhm…” Bokuto muttered bashfully, his cheeks turning pink as he raised his hand to run through his hair, hiding his face behind his arm. He was clearly not expecting to be asked to explain himself. “You know… You just look… uhm…”

“It’s not my only hobby,” Akaashi cut across Bokuto’s stammering, giving him a reprieve from his explanation. He wasn’t even sure he wanted to hear the explanation. “I enjoy playing volleyball as well,” he added, thinking maybe Bokuto would appreciate a sport more than something as mundane as reading.

At this revelation, Bokuto’s hand dropped from his hair and he froze. “Wait...you play volleyball?!” he asked, sounding mystified. Akaashi swore that his eyes actually began to sparkle. “ _I_ play volleyball!”

“Yes,” Akaashi confirmed. “I played setter on my high school team.”

If it was possible, Bokuto looked even more excited. “ _You’re a setter?_ ” 

“I was, yes,” Akaashi mumbled, suddenly a little self-conscious. He was an average setter at best; there’s no reason for Bokuto to be as excited as he was. The absolute wonder in his eyes made Akaashi a little uncomfortable. He could hear Oikawa laughing from his spot on he futon and he sent a glare over.

Almost as if reading his mind, Bokuto exclaimed “That’s so cool Akaashi! I bet you were the best setter ever!” He leaned forward in his chair as he peered at Akaashi intently with a smile on his face.

At his praise, Akaashi felt his face begin to heat up. Bokuto had so much faith in his abilities even though he hadn’t even seen them. Akaashi wanted to stop Bokuto’s expectations before they rose too high, but he ploughed on.

“I’m a spiker! You have to set for me sometime! We have an old volleyball net that we set up downstairs and we practice and play each other sometimes.” 

Akaashi hesitated. “I don’t think so,” he declined. He wondered why he was denying such a harmless request.

But his answer made Bokuto’s mood shift drastically and Akaashi thought he could almost see his hair deflate in disappointment. His eyes lost their look of wonder and appeared to turn dull. The scene tugged at Akaashi’s heart and he elaborated, determined to put the smile back on Bokuto’s face.

“There’s no need to get too excited Bokuto-san. I’m really nothing special.”

Bokuto opened his mouth, most likely to deny Akaashi’s claim, but was interrupted by Oikawa’s input.

“Aw, now come on Aka-chan,” he sang out. “You don’t give yourself enough credit. While you obviously can’t match my skill as a setter, you’re definitely not bad.”

“Thank you, Oikawa-san,” Akaashi said drily. “How unfortunate it is that you’ve hurt your knee and can’t play in Bokuto-san’s game to demonstrate your incredible skills.”

“Ahh,” Oikawa sighed, narrowing his eyes slightly at the jab about his knee. “I’m sure you’ll do fine in my place.”

“Will you really come set the ball for me Akaashi?” Bokuto asked, apparently unable to help himself from bursting into their conversation. It was clear that Oikawa wanted Akaashi to go so he could see more of the motel and try to find out more information about it, and Bokuto seemed very excited about the prospect of playing volleyball with Akaashi. For some reason, he wasn’t able to disappoint him again.

“Alright,” he sighed. “I’ll come set for you Bokuto-san.”

Bokuto’s face lit up like a dog that had just been promised a walk.

“Alright!” he cheered as he jumped out of his chair. He reached over and grabbed Akaashi’s wrist, hauling him up and tugging him towards the door. He missed the concerned look of Oikawa and the uncomfortable glance that he and Akaashi shared. It was rare for someone to act so aggressively in a non-threatening way. After living with Katashi for so long, Akaashi had begun to feel uncomfortable with any type of physical contact whatsoever.

However, as Bokuto dragged him to a room down the hallway, releasing his wrist only to grab a volleyball from the floor before touching him again, Akaashi marvelled at how innocent the gesture was. Bokuto’s hand was warm and strong on his wrist and Akaashi let himself enjoy the feeling.

When they reached the hall on the ground level that Akaashi assumed was where Bokuto said they played volleyball, there were a couple people already there. 

“Hello children,” Bokuto sang out as they approached. His hand left Akaashi’s wrist and he was already missing the contact. “I’ve brought us a setter!”

Akaashi felt slightly uncomfortable as both the short, orange haired kid and a very tall kid with hair the colour of Suga’s bounded forward and stared at him. It took a lot of Akaashi’s self control to stop himself from shuffling closer to Bokuto out of apprehension.

“No way,” the orange kid cheered, staring up at Akaashi with interest. “Really?”

“Are you any good?” the intimidating kid asked.

Beside him, Bokuto narrowed his eyes slightly, his fingers clenching on the volleyball he held. “Of course he’s good Lev! He’s the best setter ever!”

“Well, I don’t know about that,” Akaashi couldn’t help adding. These kids seemed very excited about volleyball and he would hate to have Bokuto’s unrealistic expectations disappoint them. “I’m average.”

“We’ll be the judge of that!” the orange kid said. “It’s so hard to convince Kenma to play with us when Kageyama is busy and he doesn’t like to try too hard most of the time. So even if you’re bad, it won’t matter!”

Akaashi just nodded, unsure who these people were that he was talking about but appreciating the attempt to put him at ease. 

“Okay Hinata,” Bokuto called, tossing the ball over to the orange haired kid who fumbled with it before catching it with the tips of his fingers. “Do you think you finally have what it takes to stop one of my super strong spikes?!”

Hinata puffed out his chest as he turned fully to Bokuto. “You bet!” he exclaimed, dropping the ball so he could extend his arms above his head. “I’ll stop you today, just watch!”

“We’ll see about that,” Bokuto laughed and he kicked the ball towards Lev. “Can you toss that to Akaashi and then you and Hinata can switch?” he asked as Hinata bounded over to the one side of the net and stood, ready to block.

Lev nodded his agreement as Akaashi took his spot on the makeshift court. Bokuto ran up beside him excitedly, a grin stretching across his face.

“Hey hey hey Akaashi! Are you ready to be amazed by my super awesome spiking ability?”

“Consider me prepared, Bokuto-san,” Akaashi said, raising his arms and readying himself to set the ball.

Bokuto sent him the biggest smile as he got into position and nodded at Lev. He threw the ball in a high arc, not making Akaashi move too much to receive it.

The second the ball touched his fingers, Akaashi almost laughed at how familiar it felt. He was able to slip back into the position so easily - as if he had just been playing in high school yesterday. 

He glanced at Bokuto briefly, who was already running towards the net, before deciding the height and timing of his throw. He wasn’t lying to Bokuto when he said that his skill didn’t match Oikawa’s. However, when the loud slam of Bokuto’s hand against the ball echoed, Akaashi figured he did a good enough job.

The ball rocketed to the ground before Hinata was able to even reach the highest point of his jump. Akaashi would have been impressed with Hinata’s jumping ability if he weren’t so distracted by the joyful look on Bokuto’s face. He didn’t think it was possible for Bokuto to smile any bigger than he already had, but as he landed and looked over at Akaashi, he appeared to be mistaken.

“Akaaaaaashi!” Bokuto cried out, bounding over so he was just inches away from his face. Akaashi leaned away slightly to gain some of his personal space back. “I can’t believe you don’t think you’re a good setter! That was amazing! It was like, the most perfect set ever!”

It was difficult to remain humble with such an excited Bokuto in his face, plus the looks of shock on Lev and Hinata, but Akaashi still tried is best.

“Hardly,” he scoffed. “It’s very rare for a setter and a spiker to succeed that quickly. It must have been luck.”

At his words, Akaashi almost expected Bokuto to fall back in disappointment like he had when Akaashi rejected him earlier. He didn’t expect a cocky smile to appear on Bokuto’s face, his eyes alighting with a competitive spark. 

“Then I guess you’ll just have to set for me again so we can see for sure, yeah?”

In a way, Akaashi was right. While a couple more of his sets to Bokuto ended up being basically perfect, they were unable to get it right every time. Bokuto’s skill as a spiker made up for Akaashi’s mistakes, but he was finding it difficult to follow and keep up with the enthusiasm of Bokuto’s movements. Regardless, neither Hinata nor Lev had been able to effectively stop Bokuto’s attacks, so Akaashi still counted their efforts as a success.

It seemed that Bokuto had this uncanny ability to keep surprising him. Akaashi didn’t think he’d ever clicked with a spiker as much as he did with Bokuto. It was almost like he could sense how excited he was, and then Akaashi was able to gauge how high and fast he would jump. It was a strange feeling that he didn’t fully understand and he wondered if this was how Oikawa felt when he talked about playing with Iwaizumi and the connection they had. 

He had never really had a connection quite like this with anyone else, even before the apocalypse. It felt strange, being so aware of what Bokuto was doing and how he was feeling and being able to adjust his own actions in order to compliment him. Akaashi couldn’t help but wonder if Bokuto was feeling the same way. It was difficult to really tell between all the hooting and hollering he was doing.

The ball had just left Akaashi’s fingers when they were interrupted by another two people walking into the room.

“Oho, what’s this?” A voice asked as Bokuto’s hand connected with the ball, blasting it off of Lev’s outstretched fingers. “I finally convince Kenma to come set a little bit but you’ve already found yourself a replacement?”

Akaashi quickly recognized the tall dark-haired man as one of the people who didn’t trust him, Oikawa and Suga. He was about to protest that he wasn’t replacing anybody, not wanting to give him another reason to dislike him, when his companion spoke up.

“You’re very loud Shoyou,” he said quietly, his hands fiddling with a deck of cards. “We could almost hear you from our room.”

“That’s definitely not true!” Hinata protested. “Bokuto’s way louder than me!”

The small man’s eyes fixed on Bokuto in a contemplative gaze before speaking to Hinata again. “You and Koutarou are equal.”

Bokuto squawked indignantly as Akaashi glanced at him curiously. Koutarou? Was that his given name then? 

“Hey Bo,” the dark haired man said, crossing his arms as he raised an eyebrow. “Aren’t you going to introduce us?” 

Bokuto looked a little lost for a moment until his friend gave Akaashi a pointed look. “OH! Oh yeah right! Uh, you guys know who Akaashi is. Akaashi, that’s Kuroo and this is Kenma!” he explained, pointing to each man in turn.

“Nice to meet you,” Akaashi said, bowing formally. Kuroo nodded with a smile that only looked slightly forced. 

“Are you here to play Kenma?” Hinata asked, breaking up the slightly awkward introductions. 

Kenma shrugged. “If you already have a setter I don’t see why I need to.”

“I’m here to judge your blocking,” Kuroo added, fixing Lev with a look. “You told me you’ve improved Lev. Let me see it.”

Lev, for his part, looked a little frightened at the prospect of having Kuroo’s critical eye on him but he nodded and went to take his place on the other side of the net. 

“I’m not going easy on you Lev just because Kuroo showed up,” Bokuto warned as Hinata tossed the ball into the air. Akaashi moved automatically, extending his arms after a quick glance at Bokuto’s placement in relation to him. He couldn’t help his smile as Lev’s arms did nothing to stop the power of Bokuto’s spike. 

Kuroo groaned from the side of their ‘court’. “Aright,” he sighed as he made his way over to Lev. “Let me show you everything you did wrong.”

“Kuroo-san!” Lev exclaimed as Bokuto let out a taunting laugh. “I swear I’m getting better! Bokuto-san’s spikes are the hardest to stop! You know that!”

“You’re a good setter.”

The quiet voice made Akaashi jump a little, not realizing someone was so close to him. He looked down to see Kenma standing at his side.

“Thank you,” Akaashi responded, glad to get a reprieve from all the excitable personalities in this room.

“...You work with Koutarou really well,” Kenma continued, his eyes dropping to the group of people crowded around Lev. “He’s sometimes difficult to set for.”

Akaashi agreed. “I’ve found some instances are easier than others.”

“It normally takes people a while to warm up to him. It’s nice to see that you’ve done it so quickly.”

Akaashi pressed his lips together as he nodded. He didn’t really know how to respond to that but he much preferred talking to Kenma as opposed to having Kuroo watch him with suspicious eyes.

“Oi Akaashi, set the ball again to Bo, would ya?” Kuroo asked, rolling his shoulders before raising his arms. “I’ll show Lev how block properly.”

“You think you’re gonna be able to stop me?” Bokuto asked, hands resting on his hips eyebrows raised in challenge. 

“Obviously I’m gonna be able to stop you Bo,” Kuroo said, waving his hand dismissively. “That’s not even a question.”

Akaashi stifled his laugh at Bokuto’s offended expression as Kenma left his side to go stand closer to Kuroo.

“We’ll see about that!”

Once again, Hinata tossed the ball up to Akaashi for a set, who did his best to sync himself up with Bokuto’s movements. He thought it went rather well, and while Bokuto’s spike didn’t break through Kuroo’s defense like it did with Lev, it did bounce off his hand, sending the ball bouncing way out of the court out of bounds. 

Bokuto laughed in victory as he landed his jump. “I told you you wouldn’t stop me!”

“I did stop you,” Kuroo argued, looking at his hands in vague frustration. 

“You did not,” Bokuto responded. “That’s my point man!”

“Sure but it wasn’t a great point and it came from my mistake! That had nothing to do with you.”

“It had everything to do with me!”

Their arguing continued and Akaashi rolled his eyes. But Bokuto’s out of control spike that smacked off Kuroo turned out to be a blessing in disguise. As Lev and Hinata raced each other to go receive the ball, Kenma’s face twisted into one of shock. Akaashi was unable to ask what was wrong before Kenma was moving. 

“Kuro!” he called out, yanking at the back of Kuroo’s shirt and out of the way of the window they were all standing in front of. 

Akaashi’s eyes widened and he stumbled backwards and out of the way as best he could, Bokuto’s cry of “Holy shit!” being drowned out as the wall in front of them shattered. 

\-----

 _Karasuno_ wasn’t a fancy motel, so the windows weren’t incredibly large. However, this didn’t stop the car from slamming straight into it, shattering glass everywhere as the heavy vehicle burst into the room nearly killing the four of them standing near it. Honestly, it was almost a miracle nobody was hurt. 

Kenma thought had seen it in the distance through the trees due to its bright yellow colour but didn’t really register it was heading for them until it was almost too late. “Kuro!” he exclaimed, gripping the largest handful of Kuroo’s shirt he could and jerking both of them backwards and stumbling out of the way.

Kuroo landed on him as the car burst into the room, knocking the wind out of Kenma as he fell heavily on top of him. His breath left him in a huff but Kenma was too distracted with the car that just narrowly missed them and was now emitting some kind of smoke.

Looking around the room, he noticed that Bokuto had got both himself and Akaashi out of the way and Hinata and Lev both appeared to be safe as well. 

“Kitten,” Kuroo was saying frantically as he scrambled off him, finally allowing Kenma to breathe. “Shit are you okay? I’m so sorry, did I hurt you?”

Kenma shook his head. “I’m fine,” he panted as he reached for the offered hand Kuroo stretched out and let himself be hauled to his feet. As the driver stumbled out of the front seat and onto his knees, Kenma found himself jerked right up against Kuroo’s side, his boyfriend scowling above him and making sure that his body was between Kenma and the newcomer. This time, Kenma didn’t complain about Kuroo’s protectiveness over him. Across the room, Kenma noticed Bokuto had done something similar, positioning himself slightly in front of Akaashi. He wondered if he did it on purpose or if it was some sort of instinct. 

“Oh,” the man from the car said, drawing Kenma’s focus back onto him. “Wow. There’s people in here.” 

Kuroo exchanged a look with Bokuto and then with Kenma. Clearly, this reaction was not what any of them were expecting.

“Uhh hi,” Bokuto said, waving once but keeping his facial expression angry and intimidating. Kenma could see his hand resting on his belt, where he knew Bokuto always kept one of his knives. “Yeah. Can we help you?”

The guy glanced back at his car. “Yeah does anyone have a knife I could use to pop these airbags?”

Before any of them were able to respond, Daichi burst into the room, followed by Tanaka and Noya, who were armed, and Suga, who was not.

When he caught sight of Akaashi, Suga immediately made his way over to his side. Kenma heard him ask if Akaashi was alright and Akaashi nodded silently in response. Daichi watched him move with a clenched jaw before returning his attention back to the intruder. 

“What the hell is going on?” Daichi demanded, raising his gun alongside Tanaka and Noya. “Who are you?”

“Oh hey,” the man said, raising his arms in a surrender. “I’m Terushima and I’m real sorry about your wall.”

“You’re sorry?” Kuroo asked with a raised eyebrow. “Then why come barrelling in here?” Kenma could feel how tense his body was against him and he raised his hand to fist in the back of Kuroo’s shirt, under his jacket, to try and tell him to relax a little. 

“I lost control of the car a little and I didn’t think anyone was actually holed up in this broken down motel,” Terushima explained. “I didn’t think it would be a big deal.”

Kenma felt Kuroo scoff and his eyes narrowed even more in annoyance. 

“Shit,” Terushima muttered, his hand rubbing at his neck. “Look guys I’m seriously sorry about this but there’s a zombie hoard headed this way so I would either get ready to leave or fight.” 

The comment took Daichi by surprise. “There’s a what?”

“Yeah,” Terushima said as he nodded. “There’s a huge hoard that we’ve been trying to get away from - that’s how I lost control of my car. I was going too fast.”

“Why did you need to go that fast?” Akaashi asked from the other side of the room, causing everyone to look over at him. “Zombies aren’t quick.”

Even from across the room, Kenma could see the shift in Bokuto as Terushima’s eyes moved to Akaashi. He looked tense and Kenma thought he resembled Kuroo when strangers tried to talk to him. He had shifted backwards slightly in Akaashi’s direction and was now glaring daggers at Terushima. 

Kenma repressed his sigh as he quickly came to the realization that Bokuto had gone and done exactly what Kuroo had been worried about. 

“No, I guess they aren’t all that quick,” Terushima responded. “But don’t you think it’s better to put as much distance between them and yourself as possible?”

When Akaashi looked less than impressed at the explanation, Terushima added “I also had to weave through the trees I wasn’t expecting to come across a place where there was actually a bit more space to drive so I gunned it without really paying attention.”

“That was pretty stupid of you,” Kuroo observed. Kenma fisted his hand in his shirt tighter.

Terushima shrugged. “I guess.” When nobody offered any other comments, he sighed. “Look can I leave? I have a group of people I need to get back to.”

“Fine, go,” Daichi said, his facial expression clearly showing that he was more worried about the approaching zombies. “Thanks for the warning.” 

The airbags had deflated significantly so Terushima had room to climb back into his car. As he turned the key, Kenma was surprised to hear the engine come to life and see the car move backwards slightly. 

“Woo hoo!” he cheered. “The car still works!” 

He backed slowly over the damaged wall, tires cracking as they rolled over glass and wood but eventually he was able to back out of the motel completely and disappeared around the side of the building.

“How on earth does that car still work?” Kuroo asked. Kenma shrugged beside him as Daichi sighed. “I have no idea, but that’s really not our problem right now.”

And he was right. Terushima didn’t seem all that hostile, so there was no reason not to believe his claims. Although, Kenma had to admit, it was a frightening concept. This motel had been relatively safe since they had been here but now they had a giant weak point and the dead were closing in on them. Hopefully the damage Terushima had done wasn’t enough to cost anyone their life.

Daichi had began to form a plan of splitting up and exterminating the zombies that were closing in. Before he had finished giving out instructions though, Oikawa came bursting into the room with a very annoyed black haired kid behind him.

“I don’t give a shit about you,” Oikawa was yelling, his head frantically turning back so he could yell at Kageyama. “I heard a giant crash and you want me to stay sitting in that room without knowing what the hell happened? I don’t think so. Maybe you don’t care if your friends are dead but I sure as hell care about mine.”

“Oikawa,” Suga cried, sounding a little scandalized and embarrassed at how rude he was being. He rushed over to help support the limping man. When he reached him, Oikawa rested his head on his shoulder. Kenma couldn’t help but notice that every time Suga moved, Daichi’s eyes were on him.

“What’s going on?” Daichi asked, tearing his eyes from Suga so he could address Kageyama.

“Daichi-san I’m sorry,” Kageyama panted. “He might be injured but he’s still pretty fast and I didn’t want to hurt him even more.”

“Are you and Aka-chan alright?” Oikawa asked as he glanced over to find Akaashi. Suga gave him a confirming nod.

Kenma wondered if it was Kuroo, Bokuto, and himself in an unfamiliar group if they would act the same. It was interesting, in Kenma’s opinion, to watch their dynamic. Clearly, the three newcomers were very close with each other and they still felt very uncomfortable in this environment. Although, that could be because Kuroo was not hiding the fact that he didn’t really like them.

As if proving his point, Kuroo called out “Everyone else is alright too, thanks for asking!” Oikawa looked up to give him a nasty glare while Suga and Akaashi looked a little sheepish. 

“Don’t be difficult,” Kenma mumbled the same time Daichi snapped “That’s enough Kuroo.”

“Daichi-san who the hell was that guy?” Noya asked, bringing everyone’s attention back to main issue at hand.

“I don’t know Noya, I got here the same time you did.” Daichi’s eyes scanned around between Kuroo and Bokuto, silently asking for answers.

“We don’t know who he is either,” Bokuto said, shrugging his shoulders and glancing around at the others for confirmation. “We were just here playing volleyball before he drove through the wall with his bright ass yellow car.”

“Honestly, that thing is terrible for the apocalypse. You can be seen from anywhere,” Kuroo agreed, him and Bokuto sharing a judgemental look over Terushima’s strange vehicle choice.

"Right? Not to mention it's ugly as sin."

"Took the words right out of my mouth."

“Can we please focus on what matters?” Daichi asked with a roll of his eyes. “He said something about a zombie hoard, right?”

“Yeah, maybe we should look out for that, huh?”

“Kuroo, seriously. Can you please just hold off on the sass until we figure things out, please?”

At his exasperated request, Kenma took a closer look at Daichi and realized how tired he seemed. There were dark bags under his eyes that clearly let everyone know that he wasn’t sleeping well and his eyes seemed to slide out of focus a little more than usual, as if he was lost in thought. 

As if Kuroo also noticed Daichi’s exhaustion, he nodded silently and didn’t offer any more sarcastic comments.

“Should we go out and investigate, try to head them off before they swarm the place?” 

Daichi sighed. "Probably, right? We'll split up to cover more ground. Hopefully the trees can give us some extra coverage."

Kuroo glanced down, no longer listening to Daichi but focusing on Kenma instead. "You don't have to come with me," he mumbled, eyes flickering outside and then over to Akaashi. "I can handle it by myself."

Kenma couldn't resist the urge to roll his eyes. He knew Kuroo was worried not only because of the zombies but also because of Akaashi and Suga being around them. They were unpredictable and that was something Kuroo hated.They were the least of Kenma's worries though. He was more concerned about the fact that Kuroo was ready to walk into a forest full of zombies alone just to make sure Kenma was safe. He knew Kuroo was protective but this just seemed like a dangerous decision.

"I'm coming with you," Kenma insisted, slipping one of his knives out of his pocket to emphasize his point. "Going by yourself would be stupid."

Kuroo's face twisted into a scowl that let Kenma know that Kuroo knew he was right. Instead of arguing further, he nodded, his arm tightening around Kenma as he moved closer to Daichi to gain instruction. Kenma smiled softly, pleased that he had won that argument. He glanced over at Bokuto, only to find his eyes flickering between Daichi and Akaashi. Sighing, Kenma pressed himself closer to Kuroo's side and he wondered what his boyfriend would say when he realized his best friend was about to partner up with somebody Kuroo didn't trust in the slightest.

\-----  
While Terushima didn’t necessarily scare him - he was too friendly and absent minded for that - he did make Akaashi feel slightly uneasy. Losing control of a car only to recklessly smash into a building that you only think might be empty is, for lack of a better term, something pretty stupid to do. Akaashi was glad that Daichi’s hospitality and kindness hadn’t extended to him.

Of course, he also left them with the issue of an apparent zombie hoard headed straight for their living space without bothering to give them much more information.

People around them were leaving to go help take care of this apparent zombie problem. Before Kuroo and Kenma could follow Tanaka and Nishinoya into the forest, Kuroo approached Daichi with a hesitant look on his face.

“Is it a good idea to arm them?” Kuroo asked hesitantly, glancing meaningfully over at Akaashi and Suga.

“Would you rather them be defenseless and have no way of helping us actually do anything?”

“I don’t know,” Kuroo mumbled. “I mean, I guess they could be used as bait?” 

Bokuto gave him a very ugly look and Oikawa turned to Akaashi with an annoyed look on his face that very clearly said _What the fuck is wrong with this guy?_

“What the hell kind of question is that?” Daichi asked, subtle anger lacing his tone. 

“I’m just throwing out suggestions!”

“Your suggestions aren’t very good,” Kenma muttered from beside him, looking up to give Kuroo a reproachful look.

It was clear that Kuroo didn’t mean for anyone but Daichi to hear his suggestion and, in Akaashi’s opinion, he looked a little embarrassed at being heard. 

“Aw that’s alright,” Suga laughed, moving forward up to Daichi’s side and leaving Oikawa to lean on Akaashi instead. “Is that how you feel about me Daichi?” he teased. “I’m just expendable and to be used as bait?”

“Oh please,” Oikawa groaned from beside Akaashi, rolling his eyes at Suga’s flirting and Daichi’s stammering.

Akaashi raised his eyebrow. “You have no right to judge anybody after how you act around Iwaizumi,” he told him, earning a scoff from Oikawa in return.

“Iwa-chan and I are nowhere near that cringey,” he sniffed, crossing his arms over his chest. “We are adorable and charming.”

“Is that how you see it?” Akaashi asked.

“Nobody is being used as bait,” Daichi assured, once he got his stammering under control. To prove his point, he handed Suga a knife. Suga smiled in return and moved away from his side to approach Oikawa.

“You’re not helping us,” he said sternly, his eyes glancing at the knee that Oikawa was currently putting no pressure on.

Oikawa pouted. “Suga-chan~” he whined. “Come on! How do you expect me to just sit here while you and Aka-chan put yourselves in danger?”

Suga gave him a sympathetic smile. “I’m sorry but you can’t risk it when you’re injured.”

“Besides,” Akaashi added before Oikawa had a chance to go on a rant. “The faster you get better, the faster we’re able to leave and go back to Iwaizumi.”

As expected, Oikawa’s mouth fell shut at the mention of Iwaizumi. He knew Akaashi was right and heaved a big sigh but he didn’t argue with Suga any further. Suga smiled at Akaashi, thankful he was able to think of a reason to convince Oikawa so quickly of staying out of it. 

It seemed that in the time they had their little argument, the rest of the group had decided what they were doing. Majority of the people in the room had left, leaving only Daichi and Bokuto, who were talking to each other. When he noticed they were done berating Oikawa, Daichi walked over to them.

“Okay so our plan is just to explore the trees around this place and see whether Terushima was actually being serious. It’s better safe than sorry.”  
Suga nodded his agreement. “Alright, do you want our help?”

“Only if you want,” Daichi immediately answered. “You don’t have to.”

“Well, someone has to look out for you to make sure you don’t get another nasty bruise like that.” Suga said it playfully with a smile but there was an obvious worry behind his eyes. Akaashi noticed it and Daichi did as well. He gave a smile in return. “Alright then, I guess that someone’s going to be you?”

At the invitation, the worry that clouded Suga’s eyes vanished, replaced by something that looked more like determination. “You bet it’s going to be me.”

Daichi gave Suga another smile before turning to Akaashi. “Bokuto says you can help him out if you want,” he said. From behind Daichi, Bokuto gave a small wave. He looked almost hesitant, which was something Akaashi was not accustomed to seeing. He nodded his consent, effectively softening the look on Bokuto’s face so he looked more content. 

“In case anybody cares,” Oikawa said as Akaashi moved to go stand next to Bokuto, who pulled out a knife and handed it to him. “I’m going to be sitting right in this room so I can see what the hell is going on.”

His tone left no room for argument and Suga looked over at Daichi, who shrugged in response. “Alright sure, just be careful.”

Oikawa looked taken aback, both by the politeness of Daichi’s tone and the allowance to sit wherever he wanted. He had apparently been expecting a fight. Nodding stiffly, he went and situated himself in a corner where he could see outside. 

“Okay,” Daichi said. “Suga and I and circling around the whole building and Bokuto, you and Akaashi will take the trees over there.” He pointed to a general area towards the right on the motel.

“Sounds good boss,” Bokuto replied. A couple gunshots rang out, echoing slightly through the trees. They all exchanged a look.

“Well I guess that means that something’s out there,” Bokuto replied. “Let’s go Akaashi!”

“Be safe Aka-chan! Suga-chan!” Oikawa called as Akaashi and Bokuto climbed out of the gaping hole in the wall left by Terushima’s car. 

He followed behind Bokuto, mirroring his steps since he had never navigated through this area before and had no idea where absolutely anything was. It was getting difficult though, as Bokuto’s steps became quicker and he changed directions at the most random moments. Akaashi would have questioned him about it, but he wasn’t exactly sure how to do so.

The occasional gunshot rang out but Akaashi figured most people were using knives in order to both save ammunition and avoid making a lot of noise that would potentially attract even more zombies over towards them. His eyes roamed over every tree, making sure none of the shadows around were moving and had the potential to kill them.

“Sorry about Kuroo.” Bokuto suddenly said, cutting through the echoes and rustling of the trees. “He’s really smart but he’s an idiot sometimes,”

Akaashi shrugged. “There’s no reason for you to apologize,” he said. “He’s just being cautious.”

Bokuto glanced back at him with a skeptical expression. “He’s being cautious but he’s also being a little insensitive,” he mumbled so quietly that Akaashi barely heard it. 

He decided not to comment, unsure where this grumpy mood of Bokuto had come from and how to deal with it.

He was spared answering by a snarl coming from somewhere in the trees on their left hand side. Both of them looked over in the direction and Akaashi gripped his knife. He was about to ask Bokuto a question when he suddenly left his side, disappearing behind a tree in the direction of the sound.

This motel must’ve been some kind of nature escape because the trees were so thick in places that Akaashi felt like he couldn’t see anything. He had no idea how Terushima had even manoeuvred his car in here in the first place. Glancing around and not seeing anybody, he dashed after Bokuto, not wanting to be left alone in such unfamiliar territory. 

“Bokuto-san?” he called out hesitantly as he chased after him.

He didn’t have to look very long, as he quickly came face to face with a calm looking Bokuto, wiping blood off of his knife onto a cloth that he stuck in his back pocket. 

“Are you alright?” Akaashi asked slowly, his eyes flickering between the dead body in the grass and the unusually calm expression on Bokuto’s face.

“I’m good,” he responded, before turning away and beckoning Akaashi to follow him. “Come on, I think I heard more of them this way.”

It went like this for a while. Akaashi would do his best to follow Bokuto through the trees, he would hear something, and then would dash away without giving any warning. His reckless behaviour was unnerving and Akaashi was afraid that he was going to be hurt if he kept it up. 

This time, it took Akaashi a little bit longer to find him after he abandoned him for some sound he heard. Akaashi spent about five minutes searching through the trees before he finally, and luckily, came across him. It was very easy to get disoriented since all the trees looked the same and Akaashi really had no idea where the hell he was. As he stumbled across Bokuto again, he couldn’t help but admit that although his actions were reckless, Bokuto was rather good at killing zombies. 

Even still, he couldn’t help but breath the tiniest sigh of relief when he found him safe and uninjured. 

As his gaze slid over him and he checked Bokuto for injuries, he thought he heard some kind of noise coming from a place a little too close to them for Akaashi’s liking. Just when he opened his mouth to mention it, a pair of arms came from behind and wrapped around Bokuto’s shoulders. The motion startled him so much that he stumbled to the ground, a very rotting looking zombie falling right on top of his chest. His knife slipped from his grasp and landed somewhere by his feet.

“Bokuto-san!”

Akaashi couldn’t help the cry of panic that escaped his mouth as Bokuto reached up and grabbed a fistful of the zombie’s hair, wrenching it back to keep the biting jaw away from his neck. 

Akaashi didn’t even think about his actions. Gripping Bokuto’s knife securely in his hand, he immediately launched forward, slamming his own body into the one that currently was attacking Bokuto.

“A-Akaashi, what the -” Bokuto stammered out as Akaashi landed on top of the zombie and, minding it’s biting mouth, plunged the knife into the side of the it’s head. He fought down his gagging as blood flowed over his hand and let out a small sigh of relief when the body stopped moving. He fell back into a sitting position as he looked over at Bokuto, who was still lying on the ground panting, with one arm thrown over his eyes.

“Holy shit,” Bokuto was mumbling. “Holy shit, holy shit, _holy shit_.”

Fear lingered in every part of Akaashi and he did his best to push it away as he wiped the blood off on the bottom of his shirt. He could feel it in the shake of his hands, the pace of his breathing, the fragments of thoughts that flew through his head.

There were a lot of things that Akaashi was afraid of - in this apocalyptic world, you would be a fool not to be afraid of anything. But there was no situation that Akaashi could recall in which he had felt _that_ afraid. 

Not when he encountered his first zombie. Not when he was with the first group of survivors he found. Not even when Iwaizumi was forced to stay behind. 

“Hey, you okay Akaashi?”

Bokuto’s voice drew Akaashi out of his thoughts and he glanced over to see him now sitting up and staring intently at him. 

_Me?_ He wanted to snap. _What about you?_

“I’m fine Bokuto-san,” he answered politely instead. “Are you alright?”

Bokuto nodded in response but didn’t offer any more explanation. It was enough for Akaashi though, who let out another sigh as he pulled himself up from the ground. 

“That’s good to hear,” he said, dusting off his pants and glancing around, looking for any more zombies that might attack them. He could still hear the occasional gunshot, so that meant that not all of the zombies had been taken care of yet. Terushima was right - this hoard was apparently pretty large. 

“Please refrain from going off by yourself Bokuto-san,” Akaashi requested as Bokuto struggled to his feet beside him. _You scared me and I don’t want to have to go through that again._

Bokuto nodded, almost a little too enthusiastically. “R-right….sorry.”

When it didn’t appear that Bokuto was going to move, Akaashi sighed and began walking on his own, regardless of not knowing exactly where he was, assuming Bokuto would follow him.

His assumption was correct, but what he didn’t anticipate was Bokuto saying “Akaashi wait,” and reaching out to grab ahold of his wrist and keep him in place.

At the contact, Akaashi looked down to Bokuto’s hand on his wrist before glancing back up at his eyes. Once again he was surprised at how at ease he felt whenever Bokuto touched him. It was a different touch than earlier, he noticed. His grip was stronger, almost feeling a little desperate.

“Thank you.”

The gratitude in his golden eyes was clear and he said the words so sincerely that Akaashi had to fight off the blush that threatened to break out on his face. 

“You’re welcome,” he responded, unsure what else he could say. He certainly wasn’t going to admit how afraid he was, especially when he wasn’t even sure why he was reacting in that way.

Bokuto held his gaze for a moment longer before turning back to the trees and instead of dropping Akaashi’s wrist like he anticipated, he actually pulled him a little closer.  


_Why isn’t he letting go?_ He couldn’t help but wonder as Bokuto dragged him through the trees. _Is it some sort of comfort touch after almost being killed?_

If that’s what Bokuto was after, Akaashi felt a little bad. Comfort was not something he was able to give to many people. Too many times had he been told he was too stiff or too formal, so he gave up trying. Bokuto didn’t seem to mind though and apparently Akaashi was doing enough just by being close to him. He tried not to think about the implications of this and stubbornly convinced himself that Bokuto was only so attached to him now because Akaashi had just saved his life. 

He was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he neglected to pay attention to where he was walking. His foot caught under a tree root and he stumbled forward, straight into Bokuto, who had the mind to reach out an arm and stop Akaashi from hitting the ground.

“Sorry,” Akaashi mumbled, internally cursing himself for not paying attention as Bokuto helped him regain his balance. 

Bokuto gave a smile that Akaashi thought didn’t quite reach his eyes, but it was definitely better than the indifferent expression that had been on his face earlier. “‘S okay,” he assured before tugging him forward. “I want to check over here to make sure we didn’t miss anything and then we can go find Daichi.”

Akaashi nodded, the prospect of making sure that Suga was alright was strong enough to make him focus solely on exterminating the rest of the zombies that were milling around the forest.

They came across only a couple more before Bokuto deemed the area safe enough to leave alone. Each one they came in contact with Akaashi found himself slightly grateful that Bokuto hadn’t lessened his grip. He was a little more uneasy around the undead than he used to be after witnessing the one that attacked Bokuto and he didn’t want to run into any others that had the strength that one did.

Finding Daichi and Suga wasn’t as difficult as Akaashi thought. As soon as they headed back towards the motel, it was easy to hear their voices drifting out of the building. Well, the main voice that Akaashi had was Oikawa - his voice had the tendency to carry, especially when he was angry.

“...absolutely ridiculous Suga-chan,” Oikawa was saying as Akaashi and Bokuto entered the room through the massive hole that Terushima left behind. “I leave you alone for five minutes and you go and get yourself hurt? Unbelievable.”

“Hurt?” Akaashi asked as a way of gaining their attention. “What happened Suga-san?”

“Aka-chan!” Oikawa exclaimed, limping his way over to him, immediately leaning on his shoulder for support as soon as he reached him. “Well I’m glad at least one of you knows how to take care of yourself.”

“It’s nothing to worry about Akaashi,” Suga said soothingly as he looked up from where Daichi was wrapping a bandage around his hand. “I just fell and cut my hand on a rock. It was an unlucky accident, really.”

“Oh, is that all it was Suga-chan? Just _unlucky_?” Oikawa huffed, rolling his eyes. “Well, maybe the next time it happens I’ll just _accidentally_ smack you in the face. I thought you were supposed to be the one taking care of him, not the other way around?”

Suga just smiled in response to Oikawa’s comments, but Akaashi had a feeling Daichi agreed with him. He looked very tense even as he carefully treated Suga’s injury and Akaashi thought he caught him nodding along with some of Oikawa’s sentiments.

“How about you Aka-chan?” Oikawa asked once he finished berating Suga. 

“We’re fine, thank you,” he answered, speaking for both himself and Bokuto.

“Did you run into a lot of them Bokuto?” Daichi asked, finishing up tying the bandage and raising his head to glance over at him. “Was it as big of an issue as that Terushima guy made it out to be?”

Bokuto shrugged. “There were a fair few - I didn’t really count how many we took down but it’s hard to really see it as a hoard when they’re not all together and the trees are in the way.”

Daichi nodded before running a hand down his face. “Alright well that’s one problem solved. You two were the last back so that means that we should be pretty safe, at least for now. Our next problem is trying to figure out how we’re going to patch this wall up.”

Beside him, Akaashi could feel Oikawa stiffen. He wanted to roll his eyes at him and tease him for being so obviously interested but he wanted to pay close attention to what Daichi was going to say.

It was Bokuto who suggested “I think there might be a hardware store a little ways down the road from here. I’m sure Kuroo and I came across one at some point.”

Daichi’s comment of “Okay, well, I guess we’ll have to do another supply run, and soon” had Oikawa’s hand tighten so hard on Akaashi’s shoulder that he was certain he was leaving bruises. 

They both glanced over at Suga, who shook his head the tiniest bit and was wearing a wide eyed look that clearly said _don’t say anything. Let me handle this._

Suga was asking them to trust him because this was their chance. Having the opportunity to go on the supply run meant that they could finally figure out where they were in relation to Katashi’s compound and it was possible they would be able to find some equipment of their own. Akaashi could practically hear Oikawa buzzing with barely contained anticipation and excitement. They were one step closer in their plan to get back to Iwaizumi and they hadn’t had to hurt anyone in order to do so.

So, why didn’t Akaashi feel more excited?

\-----

There were a lot of shitty things about the apocalypse. Bokuto had been keeping a list but things just kept adding up and there was really no point. But one of the worst things was the responsibility you had to other people and the weight of knowing that your mistakes could end up hurting them or costing them their lives.

_Please don’t run off again Bokuto-san._

The words echoed in his head repeatedly, causing Bokuto to cringe. Today was rough. He had let his stupid mood swings get the better of him, expecting Akaashi to understand and know what to do regardless of the fact that he had no prior knowledge about how Bokuto acts. He ended up abandoning Akaashi in a situation that had the potential to get him killed, leaving him stranded in unfamiliar territory with zombies hiding around every tree. All because his mood decided to take a turn for the worse.

He was unlikely to forget the terrified look on Akaashi’s face every time he came searching for him. At the time, he wasn’t too concerned about it but now that he was thinking about it, it brought on new waves of guilt and shame that threatened to send Bokuto into another downward spiral. Akaashi probably thought of him as some reckless, suicidal maniac and would most likely want nothing to do with him. Bokuto didn’t blame him; how was he supposed to look out for others when he could barely take care of himself some days?

Unable to hold his frustration inside him any longer, Bokuto let out loud groan, running his hands over his face to muffle the sound a little bit. The night air was cool on his arms and there wasn’t much sound coming from the trees surrounding him. It seemed even the animals were scarce, if the lack of rustling and crickets were anything to go by. With the silence and the darkness, Bokuto almost felt alone in the world.

That is, until, the door to the roof opened and Akaashi himself walked out. Well, he stumbled slightly, as if he were coming up the stairs in a rush. The sight was a little concerning to Bokuto, thoughts of his own problems being replaced for concern on why Akaashi was being less than graceful, which was the only type of behaviour Bokuto had witnessed since he met him. 

He was debating whether or not he should announce his presence, not wanting to alarm Akaashi but also not wanting to interrupt if he wanted time alone. Maybe he could just stay really still and Akaashi wouldn’t notice…

“It’s not so dark that I can’t see you Bokuto-san.”

“Ahh sorry,” he immediately apologized, fiddling with his hair just to have something to do with his hands. “I wasn’t hiding or anything… Just didn’t want to scare you.”

“I appreciate that,” Akaashi responded softly after a minute. He moved to sit on one of the higher ledges of the roof, gazing down into what was mostly darkness below them. 

He appeared to be content to sit in silence, but Bokuto had never been very good at that. After only a couple moments, he was already fidgeting, curiosity as to what Akaashi was doing overwhelming him.

“Why are you here?” he blurted out before he could stop himself.

Akaashi glanced over at him and blinked slowly. There wasn’t much light, so it was difficult to see from so far away, but his face was impassive and Bokuto could tell nothing from his emotions just by looking at it. 

“I’m sorry,” he said, bowing his head slightly. “I don’t wish to disturb you.”

“You’re not!” Bokuto half-shouted, cringing at how loud his voice came out. “I’m just wondering how you’re here, I guess. I mean aren’t you kind of like…” he trailed off, not quite knowing how to phrase what he wanted to say nicely. “Aren’t you supposed to have like, a guard outside your door? Or something?”

Akaashi made a noise of understanding and Bokuto was relieved he hadn’t ended up offending or upsetting him; it was an awkward question to ask, especially because Bokuto didn’t think it was all that necessary to begin with. He let that relief carry him closer, sitting down on the same ledge across from Akaashi. From here, it was much easier to read Akaashi’s face under the moonlight.

“Yes, there was someone outside the door,” he answered. “I wanted to open the window but Kenma told me I go come up here instead.”

“What did you want the window open for?” Bokuto asked. “It’s pretty cold out here at night, wouldn’t that make your room too cold to sleep?”

The laugh that came from Akaashi was not a very happy sound and it made Bokuto frown. 

“I just needed some air,” he elaborated at Bokuto’s confused look. “Some air and space to help me…” He trailed off but Bokuto thought he understood what he meant.

“I… I can leave,” Bokuto suggested, suddenly very aware that he might be imposing on time Akaashi wanted to himself in order to sort out his thoughts. He was used to it from Kuroo after he had had a particularly hard day - maybe Akaashi was the same way. “If you want some alone time I can-”

“No Bokuto-san,” Akaashi cut him off with a shake of his head. “If anything, I am the one disturbing you. I really didn’t think anyone would be up here at this time.”

“You’re not disturbing me,” Bokuto immediately denied. “I just thought if you want to be alone, I could go somewhere else.”

Akaashi’s eyes glinted in the moonlight as he regarded Bokuto carefully. “I… don’t think I wish to be alone,” he mumbled.

That was not the answer he was expecting and he wasn’t sure if Akaashi was telling the truth or not, but the opportunity to spend more time with him was impossible to pass up. Unable to suppress his grin, Bokuto happily settled himself into a more comfortable position. 

The silence that stretched between them quickly became tiresome for Bokuto though, not really because it was uncomfortable, but because he wanted to hear Akaashi’s voice again. Was that weird?

“You said Kenma was sitting outside your room?” he asked, unable to think of another conversation topic.

Akaashi nodded. “Yes. I’ll admit, I was a little surprised to see him there by himself without Kuroo-san.”

At that, Bokuto laughed. “Yeah they’re pretty attached to each other,” he remarked. “But Kuroo listens to Daichi and there’s no point in having two of them sit there just to watch a door that doesn’t really need watching.”

At his comment, Akaashi raised an eyebrow. “How are you so sure?”

Bokuto hesitated in answering. The words themselves sounded a little bit like a challenge, but Akaashi’s tone was simply curious. “I don’t know. Suga is always with Daichi, Oikawa can’t walk and is sleeping almost every time I go in there, and you…” he trailed off, a little unsure what he wanted to say about Akaashi. He wanted to say that he thought Akaashi wasn’t capable of screwing over the people who had helped him, but Bokuto really didn’t know if that was true or not. He settled for “...you probably wouldn’t stray too far on your own.”

“That’s a fair assessment,” Akaashi agreed. “Perhaps you should tell Kuroo-san. Then he might not be so worried about us being around.”

Bokuto sighed. “Kuroo won’t listen to that,” he muttered. “He’s very stubborn you know.”

He perked up a bit as he heard Akaashi laugh. “So I’ve noticed. How do you know him?”

“Oh Kuroo and I have been friends for awhile,” Bokuto answered, getting excited as he talked about his friend. “We met through school sports and then ended up going to the same university. And he and Kenma are sort of a package deal so I got to know Kenma through him. He’s a year younger than us you know?” Bokuto laughed. “You know...he’s kind of turned into my kid brother.”

“That’s sweet,” Akaashi said and Bokuto grinned at his words. “Did Kuroo-san know Daichi-san before?”

“Ehh not really,” Bokuto shrugged. “I think Kuroo said he played volleyball against him in high school or something but we didn’t know him too well until all this,” he gestured wildly in the air “went down.”

“It’s funny... the relationships you can forge when times are tough,” Akaashi commented. “How did you meet them, then?”

Bokuto’s brow furrowed as he tired to think back. He had been with Daichi’s group for a while now; it was difficult to remember a time in which he _wasn’t_ with them.

“Well how do you meet anyone these days? They helped us out when we were running from some zombies. Kenma thought going somewhere that was more remote would make sure we ran into less people and monsters so we hiked up here only to find that Daichi’s group ad the same idea. They hadn’t found the motel yet though, they were just roaming around the trees. But once we found out we had the same idea, we just decided to stick together.”

“Was Kuroo-san suspicious of them too?”

“Oh yeah!” Bokuto laughed, remembering Kuroo’s cold attitude that lasted for weeks. “Honestly, any time Kenma is involved with anything Kuroo gets all protective and riled up but it didn't last all that long. I mean… you’ve met Daichi. He just looks like someone you can trust, you know?”

Akaashi nodded. “He does seem very trustworthy and reliable.”

“He definitely is. Plus, their group wasn’t too big back then… I think just Daichi, Asahi, and Tsukishima. I can’t really remember though. But eventually we ran into Yaku and Lev, who Kuroo knew from school, and Noya and Tanaka, plus a bunch of other people.”

“It seems dangerous to allow so many people into your group,” Akaashi commented as he twisted his fingers together in his lap. His gaze had drifted away from Bokuto and left him staring out into the night. 

“I mean I guess,” he admitted, not exactly sure where he was going with this. “But everyone kind of joined us because they were in trouble or they met up with old friends. And - what is it Kenma always says?” Bokuto frowned as he tired to remember the words. “ _If we turn people away, we’ll only isolate ourselves. You have to learn to trust_ or something along those lines. I can’t remember the exact wording.”

“That idea implies that isolation is a bad thing,” Akaashi pointed out.

“It is a bad thing,” Bokuto insisted, shocked that Akaashi could find the idea of isolation preferable to having company. “At least, in this world it is. You should always have someone to lean on in case you’re hurt or need help - someone you can trust no matter what… Sometimes you just need someone else to be with you.” When Akaashi didn’t respond, Bokuto continuing rambling. “Kenma usually says that you have to try to live, not just survive.”

“Kenma-san sounds very intelligent.”

“He is,” Bokuto agreed earnestly. “He’s great. Everyone here is great, really. They’re a good group of guys and they’re super patient and put up with all my issues so I really can’t complain.”

“Issues?” Akaashi questioned and Bokuto wanted to smack himself in the face. He really didn’t want to have to explain his mood swings to Akaashi but now he had gone and mentioned it. It was all he'd been thinking about for the past couple hours and his mouth moved before he was able to stop it.

“Does this have something to do with the ‘moods’ Kenma-san mentioned?”

The question was asked so quietly that, if he really wanted to, Bokuto could probably get away with pretending he didn’t hear it. But he was unable to stop himself from groaning, averting his eyes to glance down at the darkness of the trees beneath them. “He told you about that?”

“Not exactly,” Akaashi said slowly. It sounded like he was picking his words carefully. “More like mentioned it when he suggested I go up to the roof. He said you come up here sometimes when you’re in one of your moods.”

“He’s not wrong…” he mumbled, refusing to look up to Akaashi’s face. He was a little scared to see what his expression would be. He really didn't want to be judged about it when he was already feeling so down.

“Bokuto-san, does this have anything to with your behaviour today when we were in the forest?”

His question was unexpected - he really didn’t think Akaashi would call him out like that. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, you acted very recklessly, running off without telling me where and leaving me behind. And then you almost got yourself killed…”

Bokuto’s mind flashed back to the Akaashi's frightened face and wondered now if that fear was because Akaashi was scared for himself or because Akaashi was afraid for _him._ It was laughable to think that Akaashi cared enough for him that he would be upset if he died, but he supposed that it might’ve been frightening to see somebody get brutally attacked like he had almost been. “Yeah I’ve been told I make rash decisions when I’m feeling shitty and don’t think about the consequences of my actions.”

“I see. Well I would like to ask that the next time you feel that way, maybe try talking to someone about it. I would suggest someone like Suga-san, who is good at listening and comforting. Maybe get some things off your chest?”

“I could try that I guess.” He usually tried _not_ to tell people when he was feeling down, figuring it wasn’t their problem so they shouldn’t have to deal with it. Plus, everyone probably felt like shit nowadays since they were in the middle of a literal apocalypse. He wondered what Akaashi would think if he told him that out of all the people he could talk to, he'd really like to go to Akaashi.

“I apologize for making you talk about it,” Akaashi said, interpreting his silence and vague answers for discomfort. “It was rude of me to pry into personal matters.”

“No it’s okay,” he reassured. And it was okay. Now that he could see Akaashi wasn’t going to judge him he really didn’t mind talking about it. “I mean everyone else knows and, since I could have gotten you killed today, I guess I owe you an explanation.”

“You owe me nothing. I was just being curious and...” he paused before “And wondered if I might do something to help.”

Bokuto chuckled as he finally lifted his gaze back up to Akaashi’s face. His features were pinched slightly in what looked like concern. It comforted him in a way that Kuroo had never been able to. “If I think of anything, I’ll let you know.”

Akaashi nodded, apparently finding his response acceptable, and he said no more on the topic. Bokuto wondered if he realized how much that offer actually meant to him. He hadn't met a lot of people who were so willing to help him through his emotions without getting to know him better first.

Although, he supposed, he had basically just told Akaashi his life story. Or at least, the part of it that was significant in this situation. It then occurred to him that during this whole time, he hadn’t asked Akaashi one question about himself. 

“Hey Akaashi, can I ask you something?”

“Yes?”

“How did you meet Suga and Oikawa?”

As soon as he registered the question, Bokuto could see the obvious shift in Akaashi’s demeanour. The brightness of his eyes had narrowed into a guarded expression and the fingers he was playing idly with in his lap tensed.

“If-if you don’t want to tell me, that’s okay,” Bokuto said quickly, not wanting force Akaashi to relive some horrific memory just to satisfy his curiosity. It wasn’t even that Bokuto really wanted to know the answer, he just didn’t want to come off as rude or self-centered because they had only talked about him that night.

“Suga-san saved my life. I met Oikawa through him.”

His answer was sharp and simple, cutting through the awkwardness that settled between them like a knife. Bokuto only nodded, not entirely sure what else he could say when Akaashi’s tone so clearly announced that he didn’t want to elaborate.

“Suga seems like he would be a lot like Daichi,” Bokuto said instead, hoping that shifting the conversation to someone other than Akaashi would put him at ease again. After all, he came up to the roof so he could relax a little - there’s no reason Bokuto should be making him uncomfortable.

“They are both very kind,” Akaashi agreed. “Perhaps that’s why they’re friends and get along so well.”

“Ah, of course,” Bokuto nodded, with a knowing grin on his face. “Of course they’re ‘just friends,’ right?”

“That’s what they say,” Akaashi shrugged but he shared Bokuto’s grin. “Who are we to tell them otherwise?”

“Ehh I think they’ll figure it out on their own,” Bokuto assured. “I haven’t seen Daichi as excited as he is now when he talks about Suga… or even just looks at him. It’s kinda weird actually. Like seeing Kuroo before he and Kenma confessed to each other.” Bokuto wrinkled his nose at the thought. Those were a long couple of months for everyone involved. He hoped Daichi and Suga would be able to sort out their feelings a bit faster, for everyone's sake. 

“It’s nice that they found each other,” he concluded, his voice dropping as he began musing to himself. It was nice to see that even in this horrible world, there were still some things that always stayed the same.

“Bokuto-san,” Akaashi said timidly.” I know I’ve already asked you a very personal question tonight but I wonder if I might ask you another?”

“Fire away.”

Akaashi paused for such a long moment that Bokuto thought he might have changed his mind. “I’ve been wondering ever since we met… Why would you help three perfect strangers?”

The question took him off guard. He had answered a question like this a lot from Kuroo, from Yaku, Daichi, and almost everyone else who lived here. They all wanted to know what possessed him to bring strangers into their group. He never expected Akaashi himself to ask him though. Akaashi must have realized he was taken by surprise because he began elaborating. 

“Oikawa, Suga and I… You had no idea who we were, we could have been dangerous. And yet I hear it was your idea to bring us back here, to protect us and give us aid when we did nothing that warranted it.”

“I could ask you the same question,” he responded before Akaashi had a chance to go on. He didn’t believe he deserved a lot of thanks for his actions. He was just doing what any other decent person would do. “ You’ve saved my life a couple times now.”

Akaashi shook his head. “No, this is different. Saving someone’s life and bringing them back to your safe haven are two very different things. You could have just left me there.”  
_If I left you there, you’d probably be dead_ Bokuto couldn’t help thinking, but he had promised himself he wouldn’t tell Akaashi about the threat he heard. Besides, he thought it did sound a little dramatic.

“Well if I'm being honest, I really just wanted to help you out, but once Suga saw me with you unconscious, I knew that I wouldn’t be able to help you without your friends coming along.”

Akaashi looked taken aback, as if the concept of somebody wanting to help him was foreign to him. “Why would you want to help me?”

Bokuto froze, unsure what to say because none of the answers he was coming up with seemed appropriate to say out loud. 

_Because you’re beautiful and I wanted to get to know you? Because you seemed smart and were able to come up with plans quickly? Because you looked so absolutely afraid of me that I didn’t care about anything else but protecting you and showing you that I’d never hurt you?_

“What, you mean aside from the fact that you saved me from a pretty serious concussion?” is the reason Bokuto decided was safe to vocalize. “I know you’re not dangerous, and I know you wouldn’t hurt anybody.”

Akaashi appeared to be struggling for words. His mouth opened and closed a couple times but he wasn’t saying anything. Eventually he settled on a quiet sigh and a soft smile. “I envy how easily you can find good in people Bokuto-san.”

He shrugged as he leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “Better than always assuming the worst.” Tilting his head, he glanced up. “What makes you ask that?”

“No particular reason,” Akaashi said, his fingers continuing twisting together and Bokuto found himself becoming distracted by the habit. “I was just thinking that I hadn’t thanked you for what you did. I’d like to extend that to you now.”

Pulling his gaze away from Akaashi’s hands, Bokuto gave him another grin. “No problem, Akaashi.” 

They fell into silence as Bokuto did his best to watch Akaashi out of the corner of his eye without being noticed. The wind around them was making his hair shift slightly and his eyes were fixed at some point in the sky. His fingers had stopped fidgeting, Bokuto noticed; perhaps that meant he was a little calmer than before. 

Bokuto himself was calmer than before too. He liked talking to Akaashi, liked listening to his soothing voice and having him near. It was different than being with Kuroo or Kenma or anyone else. Akaashi was still obviously nervous around people, especially when they were in big groups, but the moments when he was with Bokuto, he just seemed different. In Bokuto’s opinion at least. And he really enjoyed that, the fact that Akaashi felt comfortable enough around him, of all people, to not be so scared.

The breeze turned into a stronger wind, seeping through the fabric of their clothes and chilling the skin. Akaashi shivered slightly next to him, apparently more affected by the cold than Bokuto. Bokuto’s hands twitched, wanting to reach out and do something to offer Akaashi some warmth, but everything he could think of crossed the line of what was appropriate for two people who barely knew each other. 

Aside from the shiver, Akaashi made no other move that suggested the cold bothered him. Bokuto expected him to use it as an excuse to go back inside but he remained seated where he was. Maybe he wasn’t as calm as Bokuto thought.

Either way, the fresh air seemed to be helping Akaashi get his bearings, while all Bokuto could think about was how, when Akaashi tilted his head at a very specific angle and was glancing in a very specific point in the sky, his eyes literally sparkled like jewels.

\-----

Suga knew he really wasn’t supposed to be out here wandering the halls by himself looking for Daichi’s room. He also knew that he should be using this opportunity of unsupervised movement to look around for where the medicine or weapons could possibly be kept. 

He chuckled softly to himself as he pictured how annoyed Oikawa would be if he knew he was wasting this opportunity. But he had something more important to do and he wasn’t going to risk getting in trouble before he accomplished his task.

Finding Daichi’s room wasn’t hard since Suga had been there a fair few times over the past couple weeks. It was the only door open, a soft light spilling out and illuminating the otherwise dark hallway. Suga padded quietly over, resting his hand on the door frame as he peeked inside.

Daichi was seated at his desk, a large flashlight shining upwards, which was what cast the light in the room, flipping through pages that rested on the surface. Based on the lines and grids, Suga assumed it was a map. He smiled lightly as he realized Daichi was most likely trying to plan out their next supply run. Always prepared. 

He looked exhausted though. His head was propped up on his fist as he glanced at the maps, head slowly falling forward and eyes slipping shut, only to jerk back up, shake his head, and continue reading.

“Daichi?” Suga called softly from the doorway, not wanting to startle the man who looked as if he were about to pass out asleep. “Do you mind if I talk to you for a quick second?”

“Of course not Suga,” Daichi answered immediately, straightening up in his chair and giving him and warm, but tired looking, smile. “Come in.”

Suga nodded his thanks as he softly shut the door behind him. He approached the table glanced down at the map resting there, trying to see if he could recognize anything. Raising an eyebrow, Suga perched himself on the corner of the desk - he couldn’t help smiling as Daichi shifted everything over so he had room to sit closer to him.

It was strange. He had been with Daichi for a major part of the day but now, in the dim light of his room, he looked much more worn and tired than Suga remembered seeing him. The bruise on his face was much less noticeable now as it was in the process of healing, but with certain shadows cast on it, it looked larger and darker than ever. 

“How’s your hand?”

The question brought Suga out of his musing and he glanced down to see Daichi staring at him. He flexed his fingers on the bandaged hand that rested in his lap, almost proving their mobility to his concerned friend. “It’s fine,” he assured. “Seriously, you made such a big deal out of nothing.”

“You don’t know it was nothing,” Daichi argued. “There was a lot of blood. How was I supposed to know if it was or wasn’t serious?”

Suga laughed. “Well I think your reaction gave my friends quite the scare. Oikawa wouldn’t stop asking me questions about what happened once we got back to the room.” For someone who hated how much people focused on _his_ injury, Oikawa sure was determined to get every detail about what happened and how bad it was out of Suga.

Daichi nodded silently before saying “You and your friends… are very close, aren’t you?”

Suga shrugged, a little confused at the question. “Well yeah. You have to be, nowadays, right?”

“Right…” Daichi wasn’t looking at him. Instead, he was staring hard at something over Suga’s shoulder. His behaviour was a little strange but since they were talking about his friends, Suga saw this as his opening and he didn’t want to waste the opportunity.

“Actually speaking of my friends… there’s something I wanted to ask of you.”

“Name it.”

He hadn’t even heard what Suga wanted to ask, and yet, he was already agreeing. Daichi was so giving and honest, ready to help anybody out if they asked, and here Suga was, about to request something and manipulate him. He hated the thought. Suga took a breath, making sure his voice was steady and calm before speaking.

“We were wondering if we would be able to help you out on this supply run.”

Daichi raised an eyebrow as his eyes returned to Suga’s face. “Why?”

“Well, we’ve just been hanging around here, eating your food, taking up space in your home… We want to do something that could help you out,” Suga listed, reciting the words and reasons he had been going over in his head for hours. “I’m sure you don’t want to send any more of your people out on another supply run, especially since you just finished a pretty dangerous one a couple weeks ago.”

“I don’t, no,” Daichi said slowly, his brow furrowing. “But… I don’t really want to send you out on a supply run either.”

The carefully hidden care and concern in his voice still shone through like a beacon and Suga felt drawn to it, committing the words to memory. He felt a prickling sensation behind his eyes. Daichi was waaay too good for him.

“That’s very sweet of you,” he laughed, keeping his pain hidden beneath sparkling eyes and flashing teeth. “But we want to help. We owe it to you.”

“You don’t owe me anything,” Daichi said sharply. “I didn’t offer you refuge so that you would be in my debt for whenever I needed a couple extra bodies.”

“I know you didn’t” Suga said soothingly as he leaned forward, resting his hand on the one Daichi had on the desk to try and calm him down. “But we want to. Please, let us help you. You might be surprised about how valuable we are to your team.”

Daichi’s fingers played with the edge of Suga’s bandage. He was obviously afraid of letting them get hurt. Well, in a world like this, it was bound to happen, and there was really nothing Daichi could do to prevent it. So they might as well get hurt trying to do something that could potentially both help Daichi out and get them back to Iwaizumi. 

“I’m probably not going,” Daichi whispered. “Asahi won’t want me to, because he’s over protective and ridiculous and is so worried about my stupid bruised face that I’m sure he won’t let me. I… I won’t be there to look out for you like I was today.”

“Aw Daichi,” Suga teased, ducking his head so he could look him in the eyes. “Are you _that_ afraid of me getting hurt?”

He meant to ask the question as a joke, a way to tease Daichi because that was always so much fun. He was not expecting Daichi to admit “Suga, that’s my biggest fear.” It rendered Suga speechless and he wished he could take the question back. 

“I can’t lose you… not again… not that now you’re back.” He whispered it so quietly that Suga wondered whether or not he was supposed to hear it. 

Daichi wouldn’t look at him, which was probably a good thing because Suga knew he couldn’t hide the tears. He refused to let them fall though, blinking a couple times to get rid of them before responding.

“Daichi,” he said, drawing Daichi’s eyes back up to his. “I promise you, I will be more careful, I will look out for myself, and I will come back.” He put as much conviction into the words, hoping that it would at least do a little bit to help reassure him. 

When Daichi let out a sigh, Suga knew he’d relented. “Alright. Thank you, for offering to help.”

“Anytime!” Suga smiled widely at him again, pulling a reluctant grin out of Daichi. 

With his task done, Suga was at a loss of what to do next. Glancing down at the map, he went to push himself off the desk. “Well, don’t let me distract you from your planning,” he remarked. “Make sure you get some sleep though. You look exhausted.”

Before he could get up, Daichi’s hand moved to rest on his knee, pressing down as though to try and keep Suga on the table.

“Would… Would you mind staying with me for a bit longer?” he asked quietly.

Suga had no doubt that Oikawa and Akaashi would tease him for not coming back to their room _again_ tonight, but he supposed he had a little bit of an excuse since he had to come see Daichi to ask him about the supply run. Really, they should have known this would happen. But he was glad Daichi asked. Suga wasn't expecting to get his question out so early in the visit and he found himself a little disappointed at the prospect of leaving. These quiet moments with Daichi at night were his favourites.

“Of course I can,” he responded immediately, settling himself back down in a more comfortable position. “I suppose someone has to make sure you actually get some sleep. Can’t you bring this map over to the bed?”

Daichi laughed. “Yeah I could, but then I’d probably fall asleep without getting much planning done.”

Suga didn’t even listen to the rest of the sentence. Jumping to his feet and sweeping the map up in his hands, he made his way over to the bed. Ignoring Daichi’s look of surprise, he lied back against the headboard and patted the spot next to him. “Come plan on the bed then. It’s more comfortable for me than sitting on that stupid table.”

“Right, because it’s all about your comfort,” Daichi snorted but he got to his feet and made his way over to Suga, bumping him with his hip to get him to shift over a bit more.

“Of course it is,” Suga cried, handing the map over to Daichi and getting comfortable at his side. “What could be more important than that?”

“That’s a good question,” Daichi mumbled, already looking back at the map and scribbling something in a book Suga hadn’t noticed before now. 

Being beside Daichi was his favourite place to be. It was safe and comfortable and Suga absolutely loved it. He tried to look at the map, searching for some indication of where they might be but he found it difficult to read. There were a lot of lines and comments scrawled on it and it all looked rather confusing to him.

He didn’t know how long he sat there watching Daichi read a map, which you wouldn’t think would be very interesting though Suga found it absolutely captivating, but eventually his eyes became heavy. His head had found itself dropping and using Daichi’s shoulder as his pillow some time ago. It seemed that the rest of his body was catching up with him in exhaustion and he smiled as he realized that he definitely wouldn’t be making it back to Oikawa and Akaashi.

He was half asleep when Daichi spoke, his voice rumbling deeply in his ear but Suga wasn’t paying attention to what he was saying. He grumbled as he burrowed himself closer, wanting to be as close to Daichi and his warmth as he possibly could get.

Daichi’s shoulder shook briefly, indicating that he may have been laughing but Suga really didn’t care. He felt Daichi’s head bump against his softly as his fingers entwined with Suga’s own. He could feel Daichi fiddling with his bandage again and he wanted to snap at him and tell him to stop worrying so much but he was too tired. 

He shifted slightly as Daichi moved again, but this time he was able to rest next to him much more comfortably. He couldn’t help the sleepy smile on his face as he revelled in his victory at getting his stubborn friend to relax and get some rest. Although he knew that they were helping with this supply run to benefit themselves, Suga also hoped that their involvement would take at least a little bit of stress off Daichi’s shoulders. It was this hopeful thinking that finally allowed Suga to fall into a relatively peaceful sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope y'all like late night talks with BokuAka and sleepy DaiSuga cuddles because that's two chapters in a row I've written both of those scenes oops
> 
> & I hope DaiSuga isn't a problem for anyone because I'm obsessed with them right now and they won't stay out of my story
> 
> Also I honestly think I write every relationship relatively well except for BokuAka lol those guys are hard for me to write for some reason? Maybe once the slow burn thing picks up it'll be easier
> 
> I'm not going to make any promises about how fast I'll get the next chapter done because school is starting up in a couple weeks and I'll have a million essays to do but I'll try! This is more fun anyways
> 
> Honestly, thank you so much to anyone who reads this (and who suffers through my notes oops) and/or gives kudos or leaves a comment, I appreciate it so so much and I love hearing your thoughts or seeing if you like the story so far!
> 
> <3


	7. I Want To Wake Up, I Hate This Dream

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello friends~
> 
> It's been almost a year. I hope you're all doing well. Just a little tip -- do not start a multi chapter story when you're going into your fourth year of your English degree yikes
> 
> I won't ramble too much here but I do want to thank everyone who commented on my last chapter -- I'm so sorry I didn't respond but time got away from me and then it just felt like it was too late but I'll try to get better at that 
> 
> Hope you enjoy!
> 
> Chapter title comes from "Save Me" by BTS -- one of my favs and has a lot of good lyrics to choose for chapter titles tbh
> 
> Chapter Warnings: swearinggg & zombie fighting u know just the norm
> 
> Thanks for reading!

Two days after Terushima’s arrival found everyone outside, preparing to venture out towards the hardware store that Kuroo and Bokuto ran into at some point. 

Daichi hadn’t wanted to wait two full days before heading out. Supplies ran out quick and the faster you sent out to scavenge, the more stuff you could usually find. But this time he was having difficulty deciding who should put their lives at risk trying to find out whether or not this store actually had what they needed.

He wanted to make sure that he brought people who could move the heavy wood as quickly and efficiently as possible. That left out Noya, since, while he was strong and fast, he probably weighed about the same as some of the planks of wood. The same went for Yaku. And since Daichi himself wasn’t going, it left him with very few options. 

He was incredibly frustrated with Asahi about that. The bruise on his face was close to gone and his shoulder barely bothered him when he moved it. The injury wasn’t so serious anymore but Asahi was treating it like Daichi was about three seconds away from death.

Daichi had, of course, told Asahi about Suga’s request that he and his friends help them out on this supply run. Asahi also knew that Daichi could never refuse Suga anything and he also thought that having a couple extra hands would be helpful. So that meant Suga was definitely going on the supply run, no matter how much Daichi didn’t want him to. Asahi knew all this and yet he still wouldn’t allow Daichi to go with them.

He wanted to say _Well how would you feel if Noya was going on a supply run without you there?_ but the problem with that argument was that Noya frequently went on supply runs without Asahi. Since he was the only one patient enough to study massive injuries and help people that needed it, Daichi thought it was best if he stayed where they knew where he was as much as possible. And he figured since Asahi listened to him without any complaining, he should extend the same courtesy to him. But that didn’t mean he had to like it. 

Besides, Asahi and Noya were actually together. Daichi and Suga were…. well, they were something.

He watched as Suga stood in the parking lot with his new friends, his eyes finding him the moment he stepped outside. He stuck very close to them, Daichi couldn’t help but notice. Like, all the time. It was only when Daichi pulled him away and asked for a private word (which he probably did far too often, now that he thinks about it) that he got a moment alone with him. He couldn’t help but notice that he was especially close to Oikawa, who was currently leaning on his shoulder to help keep weight off his knee. Akaashi was close by also but Oikawa always seemed to be touching Suga.

Daichi gritted his teeth. It was ridiculous how annoyed he felt every time he saw Suga with Oikawa (he absolutely refused to call it jealousy. He wasn't jealous). He had every right to have other friends, especially ones who seemed to care so much for him. Daichi refused to be jealous, even if that meant Suga had found someone to replace him.

It was a little painful though; he couldn’t deny that. When he thought that he had lost Suga, he regretted never telling him how he felt about him. He hated himself for how scared he was to express those feelings and the thought of never being able to admit something like that to his best friend hurt like hell.

But now he was back, giving Daichi the perfect opportunity to resolve his problem and lingering regret, and, yet, he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Something had changed. Suga was doing his best to act as if everything was the same and they hadn’t been separated but Daichi knew something was off. There was a part of Suga that was different somehow and Daichi could feel that there was some kind of distance between them and he had no idea what he could do to fix it or if it was even something he _could_ fix. 

“Are you moping over here by yourself because you’re not allowed to go?”

“I am not moping,” Daichi snapped without thinking. He crossed his arms over his chest and frowned as Suga came over to stand before him, his usual smile in place. While Daichi was very hesitant to let Suga go on this run, Suga seemed to be rather excited about it. Daichi tried not to let that bother him.

“You’re totally moping,” Suga argued, his smile not lessening as he bumped his shoulder playfully into Daichi’s.

“I’m not,” Daichi insisted, trying not to get too caught up in the familiarity of the gesture. “I’m just making sure the plan makes sense and everyone knows what’s going on.”

“Well from what I’ve heard from Bokuto, you’ve gone over the plan about sixteen times just this morning,” Suga teased. “So unless everyone was paying absolutely zero attention the first fifteen times, I think you’re good.”

“It’s for Bokuto’s sake that I go over the plan so much,” Daichi grumbled, unable to stay so annoyed when Suga was smiling so brightly. “His attention wanders very easily.” 

“Being the leader is so hard,” Suga agreed, nodding solemnly beside him. Daichi narrowed his eyes and resisted the urge to snap at him. _Yeah, actually, it fucking is._

“Yo, are we gonna get going anytime soon or what?” Kuroo called over from one of the trucks. He was leaning back against the side of the vehicle with his arms crossed, the ever present Kenma by his side. It was a little ridiculous that Kenma was even going, since he probably wouldn’t be able to help out too much with moving wood, but his planning and strategic skills were always helpful. Not to mention it was always difficult to convince Kuroo to go somewhere without him. 

Daichi sighed. Kuroo had a point. He could stall no longer, unable to think of any way to convince Suga not to go or Asahi to let him go. 

“Yeah, yeah,” Daichi confirmed as he began walking towards the cars. “Go for it, get everyone settled in and remember, Kuroo’s in charge and we need to bring wood back so make sure there’s room!”

At his instructions, everyone began moving, shifting and calling out directions. This included Suga, who began to walk past Daichi, aiming to go rejoin his friends.

“Suga wait.” Daichi couldn’t help himself. His hand reached out and caught Suga’s wrist before he had a chance to get too far away from him. When Suga looked up to meet his eyes, Daichi swallowed hard. “Be careful” was the only thing he could think to say. 

Of course, Suga laughed. “I will be careful, Daichi,” he said, reciting the words as if he’s said them a thousand times. Which he probably had.

“I’m serious,” he snapped, slightly irked that Suga apparently wasn’t taking this as serious as he was. Does he not remember what happened the last time Daichi had sent him off on a supply run? Because Daichi remembers _vividly,_ no matter how hard he tries to forget. He squeezed his wrist lightly to emphasize his point. “Please just look out for yourself.”

Something shifted in Suga’s eyes, moving from a lighthearted glance into a more serious gaze. For a moment, Daichi thought he would drop his carefree attitude and say something, _anything_ that would help soothe his worry. He was desperate for reassurance and at this point, he didn’t care if it showed on his face.

“Who am I to deny the Captain’s orders?” he asked softly.

It wasn’t what he was expecting but, at the words, Daichi felt his breath catch in his throat. He hadn’t been called Captain in a long time and countless high school memories came rushing back to him.

“Uhhhh gross.” Oikawa’s voice broke through his mind, causing the images of happier times to evaporate faster than he could hold onto them. “Can you please keep your weird nicknames in the bedroom, for all our sakes?”

Daichi’s face instantly grew red at the implications and he immediately dropped Suga’s wrist. He did his absolute best not to send a death glare over towards Oikawa to cover up his embarrassment. He wasn’t sure if he succeeded.

“He was my volleyball captain in high school,” Suga explained with an eye roll. “Not everything has to revolve around sex.”

A choked cough escaped Daichi at the casual way Suga mentioned sex and the fact that he didn’t explain to Oikawa that they _weren’t_ having sex. Because the idea of him and Suga ever… No. Daichi wouldn’t even let his mind wander in that direction. Thankfully, neither Suga nor Oikawa seemed to notice his discomfort, as Suga was giving Oikawa a slightly disappointed look and Oikawa smirked. “It’s more fun if it does though, right?” 

“Why are you over here?” Suga asked, a small amount of irritation causing his voice to be more clipped that it usually is.

“Aka-chan abandoned me,” he whined, a light pout appearing on his face. “He keeps talking to Bokuto and ignoring me.”

Glancing over at the group, Daichi noticed that Akaashi was indeed talking to Bokuto, although it looked more as though Bokuto was rambling on and Akaashi was politely responding.

“I’m sure he isn’t ignoring you on purpose,” Suga placated. “Come on, let’s get settled in the van so you don’t have to put pressure on that knee any more.”

Daichi tried not to be disappointed that Suga hadn’t offered him any other comment, instead turning and giving Oikawa his entire focus. He watched as he gently guided Oikawa to the truck and helped him settle in the back, before wedging himself next to him.

A looming presence behind Daichi caused him to turn around. He did his best to ignore the timid smile Asahi was giving him. He knew he was being a little petty but he couldn’t bring himself to care very much at the moment. Noya, who was at Asahi’s side earlier, had run off to go talk to Tanaka before he entered the truck. Daichi felt a pang of guilt for not allowing Noya to go on this run and sending both his boyfriend and best friend out. Daichi could relate. 

Asahi was shifting nervously beside him as everyone else settled themselves in, only waiting on the giant. But he was staring at Daichi with wary eyes. Daichi recognized the look.

“Just say whatever it is you want to say,” he snapped, instantly regretting it as Asahi flinched ever so slightly at his tone. 

“You know,” Asahi started softly, squaring his shoulders and lowering his voice so the approaching Noya wouldn’t hear him. “I may not be in love with him, but he is still my friend and I’ll look out for him.”

He fought down his embarrassment and let out a sigh. “I know.” Sometimes, he got so caught up in his feelings for Suga he forgot that Asahi was also his best friend and that losing him was just as hard on him as it was on Daichi. “I know you will.”

He was too distracted by his own thoughts and Asahi’s words to pay attention to Asahi and Noya’s goodbyes (which was probably to his benefit; they were unfairly sweet) and by the time he regained his attention, the cars were pulling out and heading down the road. He found it difficult to look away, searching in vain for a glint of silver hair through the windows. 

Noya’s question of “Daichi-san?” was what finally tore Daichi’s gaze away from the retreating cars in order to look down at his friend. “They’ll be okay.”

Fighting to hold back any negative comments, Daichi clenched his fists. “They’ll be okay,” he repeated quietly when Noya had turned as walked off, yelling for Hinata. He had a bad feeling about this whole situation but maybe if he repeated those three words enough, it’ll make them come true. 

\-----

You would think that being piled in a van with people who dislike and distrust you would be incredibly awkward but Akaashi found the car ride to the hardware store rather pleasant. As far as car rides go.

Of course, this was mainly due to Suga, who had been amicably chattering on to Asahi the entire time, putting Akaashi at ease with the familiar way he spoke and joked with his friend. They had been at _Karasuno_ for at least a couple weeks now, but Suga and Asahi were catching up as if they were just reunited three minutes ago. Akaashi wondered if it was because Suga spent majority of his time either with them or with Daichi and he just hadn’t really gotten an opportunity to talk with Asahi.

Oikawa seemed calmer as well. His twitching and irritated behaviour was replaced with careful glances and steady hands. Akaashi figured the change had something to do with the fact that he was able to focus on something else than worrying about Iwaizumi, although if he looked hard enough, the underlying fear in his eyes was impossible to miss. Whatever the reason for the change in his demeanour, Akaashi was thankful, for both Oikawa’s sake and his own.

It was refreshing to see his friends in such a calm state of mind. Despite the looming threat of what happened to Iwaizumi, this environment where they didn’t have to constantly worry about someone stabbing them in the back was a nice change of pace to the overwhelming fear of Katashi’s warehouse.

Daichi’s group wasn’t only affecting his friends either. Akaashi himself had noticed he was feeling more comfortable than he can remember. While his head was aching much more often than previously due to his injury, he was approaching the point of comfort he had before the world fell to the onslaught of the undead. For the first time in a very long while, he didn’t feel the need to watch his back so closely, wondering who would betray him next. Instead he felt...almost _protected._ The thought was equal parts comforting and terrifying.

He shifted his eyes out the back window to glance at the truck following behind them in an effort to find the person who contributed to that feeling the most. He could see Bokuto in the passenger seat of the truck, gesturing wildly to Tanaka, who was so wrapped up in their conversation that the truck was drifting back and forth on the road a little precariously. Akaashi was caught between wanting to smile and furrowing his brow in slight concern. He settled on the latter.

“That’s why Kuro hates when they drive together.”

Akaashi glanced down at his side to see Kenma, eyes flickering between his face and the truck behind him. His face was set in a flat expression but Akaashi could tell he was watching him closely.

Kenma must have taken Akaashi’s silence as confusion because he softly elaborated. “They rile each other up too much.”

Akaashi surprised himself by chuckling under his breath. “I can see that.” And although it was unsettling to watch how dangerously the truck wavered on the road due to Tanaka’s lack of attention, it was nice to see people be comfortable enough to joke around in such a dire situation.

He spent the rest of the ride scanning the landscape in an attempt to keep his eyes off the truck behind them, searching for signs of recognition that he could use to track their location but they appeared to be in a very rural area that was unrecognizable to Akaashi. Nothing stood out to his attention and before he knew it, Kuroo was pulling up in front of a hardware store.

As Asahi reached over and opened the back of the van, Bokuto and Tanaka pulled up behind them, bumping over the curb before pulling into the parking lot. 

“I knew we had seen a hardware store!” Bokuto exclaimed as he jumped out of the truck before Tanaka had come to a complete stop. He landed rather steadily on his feet, excitement colouring his face as he beamed up at the building.

“It doesn’t look to be in too bad shape either,” Kuroo added while Asahi quietly scolded Bokuto for being careless, who simply grinned and slung a companionable arm around Asahi’s shoulders, causing him to stumble in surprise.

Kuroo did have a point; a couple windows were cracked and broken in the front but other than that, the store looked less run down than many other places Akaashi had visited for supplies. He attributed this to the fact that people probably didn’t want to build their own shelter, instead opting for buildings that were already secure, therefore making much of the supplies in the store relatively useless. 

“Okay Kuroo, how’re we going to go about this?” Tanaka asked as Oikawa and Suga made their way out of the van, slower than the rest as Suga was making sure Oikawa didn’t strain his knee too badly. 

Kuroo paused and his eyes slid over everyone standing around him, clearing trying to form some sort of strategy. His gaze hardened as it lingered on Akaashi, who did his best not to fidget under the scrutiny but he couldn’t help the way his fingers began twisting together nervously. 

Oikawa’s eyes quickly locked on Akaashi’s nervous tic and narrowed. “Shouldn’t this have been something you figured out on the way over here?” He asked scathingly, glaring at Kuroo. 

Kuroo’s eyes snapped over to him while Suga muttered out a warning, although he too looked vaguely angry. Akaashi glanced down in slight embarrassment at the concern of his friends for his sake. He was only younger than them by about a year or so -- there was no need for them to be so protective.

“Well I’m just saying,” Oikawa continued, speaking to Suga although his eyes were fixed on Kuroo, not allowing himself to be ignored by the leader. “Maybe instead of worrying about how violent and scary we are, he should have been using his time to come up with an actual plan so we aren’t stuck standing here like idiots.”

“I’m sorry but why are you even here?” Kuroo snapped, glaring at Oikawa and crossing his arms over his chest while raising an eyebrow. “You can’t even walk properly and have essentially nothing to offer this operation.”

Akaashi exchanged a look with Suga. They both privately agreed but they were certain that Oikawa would bitch and complain so much about staying behind that it was just easier to have him come along. And that way they could keep an eye on him to ensure he wasn’t straining his injury; giving him something to do might give him a small reprieve from sitting still, wondering about how Iwaizumi was faring.

“Excuse me, I happen to be very intelligent,” Oikawa sniffed, narrowing his eyes even further until they were just slits. “And my insights are valuable.”

Kuroo scoffed. “We already have Kenma for that so your services will not be required.”

Suga intervened when Oikawa opened his mouth to argue. It was clear that Kuroo disliked Oikawa the most out of the three of them and Oikawa was doing nothing to hide that he felt the same. Their argument had erased any contentment Akaashi felt on the car ride over. The easy smiles were replaced by suspicious eyes and he swallowed hard in the face of all this anger being caused by his inability to hide his discomfort. “We’ll look after him, there’s no need to worry about it,” Suga assured Kuroo, obviously trying to ease the tension.

“No you won’t.”

All eyes shifted to Kenma as he spoke. Kuroo immediately stopped glaring and turned a kinder expression onto his boyfriend. “What was that, Kitten?”

“You all should go look around and see what you can find in there.” Kenma gestured to the store with a slight tilt of his head. “Make sure there’s actually usable material before bringing the trucks around.” He turned to Oikawa, peeking up at him through his bangs. “You should stay in the truck with me.”

“What?” Oikawa squawked while Kuroo’s face quickly hardened into another glare. It was then Akaashi noticed Bokuto had moved and came to stand beside him. He raised an eyebrow but Bokuto either did not notice or chose to ignore him, instead focusing on the argument between Kuroo and Oikawa. 

“Why should I have to sit in there?” Oikawa demanded, though the sharpness of his tone was softened by the pout he was sporting. Akaashi had to repress the urge to roll his eyes at how quickly Oikawa’s intimidating aura evaporated.

“...You can’t walk.” Kenma’s tone of voice indicated he thought it was rather obvious. Akaashi privately agreed.

“But that doesn’t mean I’m not useful!”

“Oikawa-san,” Akaashi pointed out quietly, trying to prevent another argument. “You can’t move heavy wood around very well if you’re limping.”

Despite his soft tone of voice, Kenma heard Akaashi and nodded in support of his point. “So you stay with me.”

“Well actually,” Kuroo interrupted, raising his hand slightly as he looked directly at Kenma. “I have an issue with this plan?”

It was obvious what problem Kuroo had and Oikawa rolled his eyes in response, which was humorous because Akaashi was sure that if he and Iwaizumi were in this situation, Oikawa would be just as worried as Kuroo was. “I’m not going to kill him in there,” he stated drily, raising an eyebrow at Kuroo. “If that’s what you’re worried about.”

At this, the atmosphere suddenly became very tense. Kuroo became incredibly still and his eyes darkened in a way that made Akaashi unnerved. Bokuto stiffened next to Akaashi, leaning forward slightly with his eyes fixed on Kuroo. 

“Oikawa!” Suga groaned, looking equal parts annoyed and exasperated. 

Oikawa shrugged innocently, apparently not realizing, or perhaps not caring, that his words came out sounding like a threat. He was unfazed by Kuroo’s death stare pinned on him. “What? It’s the truth.”

“Kuroo, bro, relax,” Bokuto said, moving to stand in front of him, as if he was stopping him from advancing forward. “Nobody’s gonna be killing anybody.”

“Yeah because he won’t get the fucking chance,” Kuroo growled, the hard line of his body not softened at all by Bokuto’s reassurances. His gaze never left Oikawa as he snapped “Stay away from Kenma.”

Kenma, for his part, looked mildly bored with everyone’s theatrics and it was clear that he was not frightened by Oikawa’s words. He gave Kuroo an exasperated look. "Kuro..."

Kuroo kept his glare on Oikawa for a few more seconds before shifting it over to his boyfriend. They didn’t speak out loud but Akaashi supposed that they were close enough that they could tell what each other was thinking just by the look in their eyes. The rest of the group waited tensely, with the exception of Oikawa, who was meeting Suga’s annoyed glance with indifference.

Eventually Kuroo sighed. “Fine,” he snapped, breaking the silence that had settled over them all, rolling his shoulders back with a frown. “You two can stay here and act as lookouts. Let us know if anything strange happens.”

Kenma nodded and went to go sit in the open van. Suga helped Oikawa over while Kuroo continued to give instructions. “The rest of us will try and find wood and other building supplies. If we need you to bring the van around, I’ll let you know.” He raised his walkie-talkie in Kenma’s direction to illustrate his point. Kenma nodded in response and tapped his own device to show Kuroo that he had it with him. 

The tense mood didn’t completely dissipate with Kuroo’s basic instructions but it became less uncomfortable once people started moving. They were here for a reason and the faster they could complete their mission, the faster they could return back to _Karasuno_ and Akaashi could stop feeling like he was exposed and in danger - whether it was from Kuroo or an outside threat.

Although the area appeared to be deserted, nobody felt comfortable enough to be completely at ease. Kuroo’s hand rested on the handle of a large machete attached to his belt and it didn’t stray far, not even when he had to push the door in to get around it. Tanaka and Bokuto followed in close behind Kuroo, each with their hands resting on their own weapons. Asahi gestured for Suga and Akaashi to proceed in front of him while he brought up the rear, casting an anxious look over his shoulder before entering the building.

The interior of the store was more beat down than the outside would suggest. Upon entering, Akaashi could see planks of wood that they would be able to take and eventually craft into some sort of wall, but the shelves that would typically hold things like tools and nails had been overturned. Clearly, people thought that things like hammers would be a good weapon for destroying zombie skulls. Akaashi stayed close to Suga as they picked a path through the wreckage, still not feeling completely at ease in the abandoned building.

Tanaka swore as he tripped over a stray piece of metal that likely came from a busted shelf. “Daichi said we don’t have anything like hammers and shit but it doesn’t look like we’re gonna have a ton of luck finding stuff here either.”

Asahi shook his head. “We did just get here,” he reminded Tanaka softly, picking his way through a pile of debris in order to find a suitable path to walk on. “Just because the shelves are destroyed doesn’t mean people took everything.”

Tanaka grumbled something unintelligible under his breath and Suga went over to elbow Asahi in the side. “Since when did you become so optimistic?” Suga teased, completely unaware of Asahi rubbing his ribs in pain from Suga’s bony elbow. 

“His boyfriend’s had a good influence on him,” Tanaka snickered, hefting his baseball bat up on his shoulder. “Noya is nothing if not optimistic and it begins to rub off on ya after a while.”

Asahi’s face flushed in embarrassment but his eyes softened at the mention of his boyfriend.

“If you’re all done gossiping,” Kuroo called out, now standing several feet in front of them with a hand on his hip. “Bo and I have found a loading dock. ...We think.”

The rest of the group quickly rejoined their leader and he gestured to a large door that looked like a garage. “Yeah, that’s probably a loading dock,” Tanaka agreed, moving to glance at a control panel that sat beside it. “But I don’t know if we’re gonna be able to get it open. This thing looks pretty busted and don’t we need electricity?”

Kuroo pursed his lips in thought as he regarded the door. Bokuto made his way over, tapping it a few times with his knife. “Can we smash it in?”

Suga smiled at the suggestion and Kuroo cocked his head. “I don’t know Bo, it looks pretty strong. Plus it’s huge. It’s, like, the size of a car.”

“So let’s mow it down with a car,” he countered with a grin. Tanaka looked up excitedly at the idea.

“W-won’t that risk wrecking the car?” Asahi asked timidly, his worried eyes flickering between Kuroo and Bokuto.

“It might,” Kuroo agreed. “We can’t really go around crashing cars since they can be hard to come by.” He narrowed his eyes in thought. It was difficult to tell if he thought this was a good idea or a bad one. Kuroo was much less reckless compared to Bokuto and Tanaka, both of whom were grinning in excitement at the prospect of destruction. 

“You might be able to back the truck into the door,” Suga suggested. He glanced at the door and cocked his head. “This is kind of a cheap looking hardware store - maybe it was a family business or something - so this door might just be made of the same metal a normal garage door is. Not the heavy duty stuff.”

“That way you wouldn’t wreck the engine,” Akaashi expanded, prompting a nod from Suga. “Because you’d hit the back of the car.”

Bokuto and Tanaka’s excitement only grew. Kuroo glanced at them both before rubbed his fingers over his forehead and sighing. “Alright fine, let’s try it.”

“Hell yeah! Bokuto and I will go get the truck, you let Kenma know we’re on our way!” Tanaka called as he and Bokuto turned and headed towards the front of the store.

“We’ll honk the horn quick before we go so make sure you get out of the way!” Bokuto called over his shoulder as he followed Tanaka.

“Let’s move now and not wait,” Asahi suggested as Kuroo pulled his walkie-talkie out of his belt and informed Kenma of their plan.”You know how… er... enthusiastic they can get.” Asahi herded them over to a corner of the store where they were well out of range of the door. Once they got themselves a safe distance, they sat in uneasy silence, waiting for Bokuto and Tanaka to return.

Asahi turned to Suga. “You really don’t think this will damage the car?”

Suga hesitated slightly. “I didn’t say it _wouldn’t damage_ the car; I just think that it will keep the engine safe so the car is still able to drive.”

“We can probably afford that,” Kuroo said. “Worst comes to worse is we start using another car Daichi and Noya managed to salvage.”

Suga started. “Daichi knows how to fix cars?”

Kuroo snorted "No" while Asahi grimaced. “Well, he helped Noya out a bit. And he’s learning!”

“That’s a nice way of putting it.” 

“He was better than Bokuto,” Asahi pointed out. At that, Kuroo snorted harder. 

“Yeah he definitely was. Bo’s too enthusiastic for shit like that.” He paused before glancing over at Asahi. “Come to think of it,” he said slowly. “Maybe we shouldn’t have let those two go on their own.” 

Asahi opened his mouth to respond only to wince as a quick, loud burst of the horn went off. “A little late now,” he laughed as he gave a soft smile. “Hindsight is 20/20.”

The rumbling of an engine sounded and Akaashi winced at the loud sound of creaking metal as the back of the pick up truck burst through the garage door, similar to how Suga described. They hadn’t been able to bust through the door completely with the truck but they had warped the door significantly enough that they would be able to load the wood outside and into the truck without too many issues.

Tanaka and Bokuto both jumped out of the truck, each with their own excited exclamation.

“Hell yeah! It fuckin’ worked!”

“We didn’t flatten any of you guys, right?”

Asahi blanched. “Why would you burst through the door if you even thought there was a chance any of us would be flattened?!”

“Lighten up Asahi, I was joking,” Tanaka rolled his eyes and Kuroo delivered a high five to Bokuto. 

Suga had an exasperated smile on his face as he watched the friends’ exchanges. When he noticed Akaashi watching him, he laughed. “We haven’t had to deal with anyone quite as enthusiastic as them before, have we?”

Akaashi snorted. While Oikawa could certainly be eccentric and excited, he didn’t quite meet the levels of Bokuto or Tanaka. “Trying to picture Iwaizumi-san acting like this is rather funny,” Akaashi responded, a smile tilting the corner of his mouth. 

Suga chuckled at his comment. “Agreed.” Although he had meant it as a joke, the mention of Iwaizumi caused the smiles to fall from their faces rather quickly. 

“Suga-san…” Akaashi mumbled, waiting until he met Suga’s eyes before asking slowly. “Do you think Iwaizumi-san is okay?” 

He inhaled sharply before answering, seeming to contemplate his words. “I think he’s... alive,” Suga muttered slowly, giving a remorseful look. “If that makes you feel any better.”

Akaashi nodded once. “Thank you, but it doesn’t.”

“I’m sorry,” Suga immediately apologized but Akaashi shook his head. “It’s no fault of yours Suga-san. I thought as much as well.”

Suga sighed. “You haven’t told Oikawa that, have you?”

“No,” Akaashi responded. “I do my best to stay away from that topic because I’m not sure I can bring myself to lie to him.” He glanced over with a sympathetic look. “I guess that falls to you.”

“I think he knows too,” Suga said sadly. “But sometimes hearing the empty words help relax him. And at this point, anything that helps relax him is good - he’s going crazy being stuck here but I don’t know what we could do to make this go faster.”

“I think coming out here today helped,” Akaashi assured. “On the way here he looked less frazzled… more determined. I think the idea of being able to do something beside rest and heal his knee is a comfort to him, even if he is just sitting in the van.”

Suga laughed lightly. “Well I hope you’re right. And I hope we’ll be able to figure out a plan to leave soon.”

Akaashi raised his eyebrow. “Do you?” he asked. Akaashi wasn’t the only one who had made something close to friends at this place. If they got Oikawa back to Iwaizumi safely that would be great but not if Suga was going to take his place at being moody because he was no longer with the person he wanted to be with.

Suga only smiled but Akaashi could clearly see it didn’t reach his eyes. “The most important thing right now is getting back to Iwaizumi. We can deal with everything else later.” He didn’t give Akaashi a chance to respond before he asking “How’s your head feeling by the way? Don't think I didn't notice your wince earlier.” 

“It’s fine,” Akaashi answered, suppressing his sigh at the switch of topics. If Suga could lie about his feelings, then Akaashi could lie about his injury. Suga looked like he absolutely did not believe him but decided not to press for details. He merely rested his hand lightly on Akaashi’s shoulder before moving over to Asahi and Kuroo, asking how they could help.

Suppressing his sigh, Akaashi moved to follow Suga. Regardless of what he said, Akaashi had a feeling that moving on and away from Daichi was going to be much harder than Suga would admit - at least out loud. Hopefully Suga wasn’t lying to himself as well.

“I don’t know exactly how much wood we _need,_ ” Kuroo was saying. “I guess we’ll just see how much we can get in here? And then kind of go from there.”

Everyone nodded in response and split up, each beginning to haul the bundles of wood towards their truck. Akaashi stuck close to Suga as the two of them struggled to haul the heavy planks of wood around. It was almost embarrassing, to be perfectly honest. Akaashi had never really thought of himself as small before, but comparing his own strength to the likes of someone like Asahi or Tanaka was making him second guess himself. 

A particularly loud bang of dropping wood sounded, followed by an equally loud curse from Tanaka. Akaashi couldn’t help flinching as the sound echoed off the walls and rang through his ears. Without thinking, his hands flew to grip at his head, fingers pressing hard into the skin of his forehead in an attempt to relieve some of the pain. Unfortunately, that meant that the end of the wood he was holding also fell to the floor, creating an even louder sound since it was right in front of him. 

Hissing in pain, Akaashi found himself falling to his knees, squeezing his eyes shut to try and stop the pounding in his head. It wasn’t a horrible pain but coming on suddenly took him aback. 

Soft hands rested on his shoulders and Akaashi immediately recognized the kind touch as Suga.

“Akaashi, what is it?” Suga’s voice was calm but Akaashi could clearly detect the underlying worry in his tone. “Are you alright?”

He nodded in response and then instantly regretted to action as it made his head ache. He hissed again and felt Suga’s fingers tighten. 

“I’m fine,” he answered, cracking his eyes open slowly. Looking up, he came face to face with a concerned looking Suga. “Just a headache from the noise.”

Suga pursed his lips before nodding. “Okay. Here, let’s get you off the floor.” 

He accepted Suga’s help initially because he did not want to be rude but as he straightened up completely, he found he needed the support a little more than he originally thought. 

“Here,” Suga said again as he gently steered him towards a pile of wood, urging him to sit down. “Are you sure you’re alright?” He bent at the knees so his face was level with Akaashi’s.

“Yes Suga-san, I’m alright” Akaashi insisted, though he’s pretty sure his words lost their effect since he continued to massage his head. “It’s only a headache.”

Suga huffed before straightening up. “You just wait it out here for a bit, I’ll go help out the others, okay?”

“Suga-san I don’t need to --”

“It wasn’t an suggestion, Akaashi,” came the very quick reply.

He sighed in response to Suga's mothering, leaning his arms forward to rest on his knees and closing his eyes again. “Alright,” he agreed, knowing Suga wouldn’t let the matter rest until he did.

Nodding in satisfaction, Suga squeezed his shoulder once more in a way that comforted Akaashi more than it should have before turning and walking off to talk to Tanaka. 

As his footsteps faded, Akaashi took a deep breath, enjoying the silence that didn’t make his head pound. _Just a few moments of rest,_ he told himself, removing his hands from his forehead. The pain wasn’t so bad now -- a good sign. 

The next time footsteps came by him, Akaashi didn’t flinch from pain, which was another good sign. Opening his eyes, he saw an annoyed looking Kuroo standing a little ways away, looking like he was concentrating on something.

“Shit, we need hammers and stuff too, don’t we?” He asked, frowning at Asahi, who now walked by.

Asahi groaned as he wiped his hands on his jeans, staining them slightly with dust and dirt. “Oh damn. Yeah we do. I forgot about that.”

“I can help with looking for tools and other materials,” Akaashi suggested softly as he pushed himself to his feet. He was strong but definitely didn’t have the strength of someone like Asahi or Bokuto. He also really didn’t want to deal with the potential of anymore loud noises, not looking forward to listening to the wood connect with the metal of the truck over and over again to give him another headache. “I might be better at scrounging up some materials as opposed to heavy lifting.”

Kuroo glanced over at him, his eyes raking quickly over his body before apparently coming to the same conclusion. He exchanged a quick look with Asahi, who just shrugged his shoulders, before responding. “Alright,” he nodded, shifting his shirt around to reach his belt. He detached a handgun from the belt and held it out for Akaashi to take. “Use this if you run into to trouble.”

Akaashi did his best to hide his surprise as he hesitantly reached out to take the weapon. “Thank you.”

Kuroo nodded stiffly, his eyes still not trusting but he was too kind a person to send Akaashi out with no way to defend himself. “We’ll be here unless we let you know otherwise,” he said before turning back to the rest of the group.

Recognizing this as some form of dismissal, Akaashi turned and headed towards an area of the store they hadn’t visited yet.

It was just as run down as the rest of the store was, with shelves and broken merchandise littering the floor. Judging by the mess that surrounded him, Akaashi found it difficult to imagine just one group of people causing this much destruction. He also had yet to see any signs of the undead, which was both comforting and alarming at the same time. 

He wandered deeper into the store until something sharp crunched under his feet. He looked down to see a bunch of nails and screws scattered along the floor. The shelf that was currently sideways lying on the ground must have been what held the small metal instruments.

Glancing around, he was able to find a plastic container that didn’t appear to be too badly damaged and began collecting the fallen nails. He was able to scrounge up quite a few, although he was at a loss when trying to find actual tools. It appeared as though things like hammers were too good a weapon to pass up during the apocalypse and they were picked over. Akaashi personally hated using hammers as a weapon. They were incredibly messy and were only effective at a very close range. He did his best to avoid coming in close contact with zombies so he usually opted for firearms or longer blades that didn’t make him get so close.

The only tools left he could find were things like electric drills -- and even if those were going to be helpful, he was doubtful that they worked any longer.

It was frustrating because he wanted to do something to help out Daichi’s group since they were going to be leaving shortly and no doubt swiping a bit of their supplies. One of the ways he eased his conscience about that was the idea that at least he could help on this supply run as a body that Daichi doesn’t mind losing and assisting in repairing the wall back at _Karasuno._

Not quite ready to give up his search yet, he rounded the corner in an attempt to find anything else potentially useful. As he turned his back to make his way down the aisle, he heard the telltale sign of footsteps approaching him from behind. His body tensed, one hand flying to the handle of his gun. But at the sound of the familiar call of “Hey hey hey Akaaaaashi!” his body released all tension and he was overcome with relief as Bokuto jogged up to his side. 

He skidded to a halt beside Akaashi, barely out of breath from the minimal effort he exerted, voice steady as he asked “Where ya goin’?”

“Hello Bokuto-san,” he greeted, somehow drawing a grin out of Bokuto from the simple words. “I’m not much use when it comes to strength,” he explained quietly, his cheeks heating slightly in embarrassment at the admission, which he did his best to force down. “So I thought I would help out by searching for other materials we need.”

Bokuto nodded as he stuffed his hands in the pockets of his jacket. He leaned closer towards Akaashi, his eyes fixing on his to try and get his undivided attention. “Sounds great but do you mind if I come with you? Going off by yourself is kinda dangerous, don’t you think?” 

“I can take care of myself Bokuto-san,” Akaashi gently reprimanded. He might not be the strongest person around but he had been taking care of himself long before he had met Suga and had managed to survive this long. There had been a couple close calls but...well, Bokuto didn’t need to know about those. Besides, Kuroo had been kind enough to arm him so Akaashi wasn’t too worried about his safety. 

“Oh yeah! I know you can!” Bokuto was quick to exclaim, afraid he had offended Akaashi somehow. “But like, now you don’t have to!”

Akaashi raised an eyebrow. “Won’t you be of more use moving wood?” He couldn’t help but eye the way Bokuto’s arms flexed as he moved. ...Yeah he was definitely more suited to lifting heavy wood than Akaashi ever would be. 

If Bokuto noticed Akaashi’s shameless staring (which Akaashi didn’t think he caught on to), he didn’t mention it. “I don’t know, I think I’d be of more use makin’ sure that you’re okay.”

The question of why it matters to Bokuto whether he is safe or not hovers on his tongue but he holds back from asking, unsure if he really wants to hear the answer. Instead he nodded once, glancing over to meet Bokuto’s wide eyed stare. “Fine. You may come with me, if you wish.” Though he may be a little overly enthusiastic, Akaashi had come to find out that Bokuto was incredibly persistent if the situation presented itself. Allowing him to tag along would be much easier than trying to convince him to go back to the main group.

And if Akaashi was eager to spend a little more time with him, well, that was just a bonus.

Apparently content with the answer, Bokuto leaned away from him, his gait becoming more casual as he walked next to Akaashi, following his lead as he scanned the remaining aisles for tools. 

They walked in silence for a while before Bokuto began to feel restless. Akaashi wasn’t bothered by the silence but he could feel Bokuto racking his brain for a conversation topic. Sure enough, when he glanced over, Bokuto’s brow had furrowed slightly and he was frowning. 

Ignoring Bokuto’s struggle for conversation for the moment, Akaashi continued scanning the aisles for anything useful. His eyes eventually landed on a door towards the back corner of the store. He narrowed his eyes to try and read the faded print on it but he was too far away to make out the characters.

“So,” Bokuto finally drawled out, tearing his attention momentarily away from the door. “What exactly are you looking for?” 

“Tools,” Akaashi answered shortly, turning and making his way towards what he hoped was some sort of back storage room. Bokuto trudged behind him, having a more difficult time of picking through the debris -- his footsteps crunched loudly as he stepped over various objects. 

Bokuto cursed as he tripped over something, sending himself forward and crashing into Akaashi’s back. But for as clumsy as Bokuto was, he was able to keep both himself and Akaashi from tumbling to the floor -- which was probably for the best; the sharp nails that littered the ground weren’t ideal to fall onto.

“Sorry,” Bokuto mumbled as he straightened them up.

“It’s alright Bokuto-san,” Akaashi assured as he turned and continued his way to the door. “Although you might find it easier to traverse if you weren’t stomping over everything.”

Bokuto made an offended sound. “What?! I am not stomping!”

Akaashi smirked. “You could have fooled me.”

“Akaaaaaashi,” Bokuto groaned. “Don’t be so mean! 

He couldn’t help but smirk at Bokuto’s whining though he did throw a quick glance over his shoulder to make sure he hadn’t actually upset the man. Bokuto was pouting but it was nowhere near what he looked like the other day in the forest so Akaashi decided he wasn’t too wounded.

He returned his eyes to the area around them, continuing to search for anything that would even be remotely helpful. After a couple minutes, Bokuto spoke again. 

“How’s your head, by the way?”

Akaashi turned away from the aisles to glance at Bokuto. He had hoped that nobody had witnessed his headache earlier. Before he had a chance to answer, Bokuto rambled on. “I just -- because I thought I saw you, with Suga… and you looked like you were in pain.. or something?” Bokuto reached to rub at the back of his neck. “And I just thought that maybe it was bothering you? Your head, I mean! Uh…”

Deciding to end Bokuto's stammering misery, Akaashi nodded. “My head is fine,” he answered, stopping himself from smiling at how nervous Bokuto seemed to talk to him. “I was being a little dramatic and wasn’t expecting the noise.”

“Oh yeah… I guess throwing all that wood around would be pretty loud,” Bokuto agreed, looking much more calm after Akaashi had answered him.

“Where are we going?” Bokuto asked, jumping into his next conversation as Akaashi steered them over to the door. The letters were faded but it did say employees only, which Akaashi assumed meant that it was some kind of storage room for extra merchandise. 

“Just in here,” he answered, pressing his ear to the door to see if he could hear anything moving on the other side. “I thought it might hold extra supplies.”

“Ohhhhh okay,” Bokuto answered. “That’s a smart plan. Since everything here is kind of broken and picked over and shit.” Akaashi threw him a look from the door and Bokuto snapped his mouth shut quickly. “Oh, sorry.”

Rolling his eyes, Akaashi returned to his task. When he was confident that it was silent for a long enough period of time, he straightened up. “I don’t hear anything that’s a cause for concern,” he mumbled. “But be wary, just in case.”

“Will do,” Bokuto said, moving his hand to his belt where his gun and a knife rested. He wrestled out his knife and waved it slightly when he caught Akaashi’s glance. “Just in case.” 

Nodding in response, Akaashi rested his hand on the doorknob and twisted, only to find that it was jammed. 

“Shit,” he mumbled, glancing around to see if he could spot a key lying around. “It’s locked.”

Of course, there wasn’t much on the ground except for more garbage. There wasn’t a key in sight and honestly Akaashi wasn’t expecting to find one. The lock didn’t look as though it was incredibly sturdy. If he could find something sharp and thin enough, he figured he could probably pick it open.

Before he was able to search for such a tool, Bokuto spoke. 

“Here, move out of the way for a sec,” he requested as he leaned down beside Akaashi to glance at the lock. He grabbed the doorknob and wiggled, a little more forcefully than Akaashi had but he was still left with the same result. “I can probably get it open.”

“Can you?” Akaashi asked, skepticism colouring his tone. “You know how to pick locks?” For some reason, this didn’t seem like a skill that Bokuto would waste his time learning.

“Nah,” Bokuto said, rolling his shoulders back as he straightened up. “I’m not Kenma. But I can break it down.”

“You can -- what?” Akaashi asked, unsure if he had heard him correctly. Sure enough, Bokuto reared back a couple steps and sprinted to the door, leading with his shoulder and throwing his body into the door.

“Bokuto-san!” Akaashi couldn’t help but exclaim. He wasn’t prepared for the sudden movement of his companion or the loud noise that came with body checking a solid piece of wood. He held back his wince at the noise, not wanting to be questioned about his headache again.

Bokuto blinked at him, looking concerned at his exclamation. “What?”

“You’re going to injure yourself,” Akaashi reprimanded. He thought he sounded like Suga and could now understand why he was always so worried about people injuring themselves. “There’s no need for this. I’m sure I can find a way to open the lock.” 

Bokuto brushed him off easily with a wave of his hand. “Nah that’ll take too long.”

“We are not in a rush Bokuto-san.”

“It’s a weak door - I can feel it’s already starting to give. I can bust it open!” 

Akaashi opened his mouth before closing it just to sigh instead of argue. “Fine. But please, at least sheath your knife.”

“Huh? OH!” Bokuto gave him a sheepish grin as he slid his knife back into his belt. “Yeah probably a good plan.”

“Honestly,” Akaashi mumbled with a roll of his eyes as Bokuto backed up a little bit further than last time, readying himself to attempt to mow down the door a second time. 

The next attempt was no better than the first, though Bokuto seemed to put a bit more force behind this one, his shoulder ramming painfully into the wood.

“Please do not injure yourself Bokuto-san,” Akaashi gently reprimanded, grimacing at the loud sound. “It really isn’t worth it.”

“Don’t worry about me Akaashi, I can take it!”

At the comment, Akaashi wanted to point out that there was no reason that Bokuto should need to “take it,” but the determined look on his face caused him to hold his tongue. If Bokuto wanted to keep ramming into a door, who was Akaashi to stop him?

It took a couple more tries and a lot of wincing on Akaashi’s part but eventually Bokuto’s strength proved too much of a match for the door and on his fifth attempt, it gave in, bursting open and revealing the storage room. 

“Are you alright?” Akaashi asked, watching as Bokuto picked himself up from the ground and immediately began rubbing at his shoulder. 

“Never better,” he groaned out, rolling his shoulder back and wincing slightly. Akaashi rolled his eyes as he brushed past him, refraining from making a comment along the lines of “I told you so” and pulling his gun out, holding it at the ready. He could hear Bokuto scrambling in after him but ignored him because he could hear shuffling coming from deeper in the room. 

The room was a little bigger than Akaashi expected and while it was a bit of a mess, it didn’t look as though that was a result of looters coming through. There were a few small windows high up on the walls, which was the only source of light in the dingy room. The shelves were all standing, which Akaashi took as a good sign. Hopefully this would make it easier to look for the materials he was after and quickly meet back up with the main group. He was beginning to feel uneasy about this supply run and he wanted it over as soon as possible. 

“Akaashi wait,” Bokuto called from behind him, the door falling shut as he followed him inside. Akaashi shushed him quickly and jerked his head slightly towards where he was hearing the shuffling. 

Bokuto hurried in front of him and rested his hand on Akaashi’s, pushing his gun towards the ground. At Akaashi’s sharp look, Bokuto flashed his knife, twirling it slightly in his hand. “I’ll get it. Save your ammo.”

It was difficult to argue since the quieter you were, the better things usually went so Akaashi nodded his consent and gestured Bokuto forward. He stepped in front of Akaashi and continued moving forward warily in the direction of the groaning and shuffling. 

When they finally came across the zombie, it was clear to see that they were a former employee of the store. The apron she wore had the store logo printed on the front and she was wearing work boots to protect herself from the hazards of the job. It looked as though she had barricaded herself in the storage room and eventually died from lack of resources. A slight pang of sympathy ran through Akaashi at the thought.

Bokuto moved forward to corner her, his arm brandishing the knife held out in front of him. It was fortunate that she wasn’t particularly fast since there was not a lot of room to move about in the cramped area and her boots weighed her down. 

The knife moved, nothing but a blur of silver in the dark room. He wasn’t quick enough though, the zombie stumbling out of the way before the knife could make contact with her head and piercing her shoulder instead. 

Akaashi’s breath caught as the zombie swiped at Bokuto, who quickly dodged out of the way of her reaching hand. She snarled at her miss and lunged forward again, a move that neither Bokuto nor Akaashi was expecting. Bokuto stepped back again to avoid her but this time tumbled straight into the shelf behind him. 

Bokuto cursed as he tripped and fell backward, the zombie falling with him. Akaashi made a move to go help but the shelf Bokuto had knocked down had hit another, and soon there was a domino effect, the rickety shelves all crashing around him. 

Akaashi dove to the side to avoid being crushed, head pounding again as he hit the floor and parts of the shelf fell onto his back. Thankfully it wasn’t one of the heavy duty shelves and he was able to shift out from under it pretty easily. 

When the destruction was finished, the room was filled with a heavy silence that sent Akaashi into a slight panic. He could no longer hear the zombie’s cries but he also couldn’t hear any sign of his companion.

“Bokuto-san?” Akaashi called out, craning his neck to try and see around the fallen shelves and products. His heart pounded when he didn’t get an immediate response. Soon though, he heard a faint groaning and a quiet curse.

“Bokuto-san?” he asked again, unable to hide the faint relief in his voice. “Are you alright?”

“Ahh yeah. Good news is I found the hammers.”

“Great, well, how about you worry about getting yourself out first. Do you need help?”

Regardless of his answer, which was a stammered “N-no I think I got it,” Akaashi began shifting through the shelves before his ears picked up on something behind him. He stopped moving and strained his ears, listening to see if he could hear it again. 

“What is it?” Bokuto asked from the mass of metal, apparently noticing Akaashi’s lack of movement. “You okay?”

“I hear something from outside… I’m going to check it out.”

“By yourself?!” He sounded surprised by the idea and Akaashi’s eyes narrowed.

“Yes Bokuto-san,” he snapped, unable to hide the annoyance in his tone. “You worry about getting yourself free.”

“Okay but be careful, yeah?” His voice sounded strained and Akaashi regretted being rude, especially when it sounded as in Bokuto was in more pain than he let on. Still, he didn’t respond, merely sighing as he moved towards the door.

Poking his head out, he glanced around but was unable to find anything odd. Cautiously, he stepped out of the closet and pulled the door shut behind him, not enough to catch the latch, but hopefully enough that most of Bokuto’s movements would be muffled.

He turned to the side again and the telltale click of a gun froze Akaashi in his tracks. He had been hoping that the sounds he was hearing were coming from the undead but, unless they had miraculously learned to handle advanced weaponry, it was certainly a living person who was threatening Akaashi. Yet again.

“Didn’t think I’d be seeing you around again. Aren’t you supposed to be dead?”

The voice chilled Akaashi to his bone and his spine stiffened as recognition flowed through him. 

“Drop your gun, Akaashi.”

Gritting his teeth to stop himself from cursing, he followed the instructions, letting his only form of defense fall from his fingers to the ground. The clatter of the weapon on the ground sounded too final to Akaashi’s ears and he sucked in a deep breath in an attempt to calm himself. 

“Always so obedient,” the voice laughed. “Why don’t you turn around and face me?”

Inhaling deeply, Akaashi slowly pivoted until he was staring into the very familiar eyes of someone he wished to never see again.

“Hello Arashi-san,” he greeted quietly. He did his best to keep his voice level but that becomes much more difficult when one is staring down the barrel of a gun.

Arashi grinned in response. “Always so polite,” he commented, rolling his eyes. “Manners are wasted in environments like these.” 

Deciding that it was probably best to keep quiet, Akaashi pressed his lips together to refrain from speaking. Arashi was always a bit of a loose canon, if Akaashi could remember correctly, and he did not want to set him off. Especially with Suga and the others so close by and Bokuto quite literally right behind him in the storage closet. He hoped more than anything that Arashi wouldn't hear the sounds of Bokuto trying to free himself. 

“I really didn’t think I’d be seeing you again,” Arashi repeated, pulling Akaashi out of his quickly spiralling thoughts. “I figured you were a goner once we tied you to that pole.” 

The memory made Akaashi’s wrists itch and he clenched his fists, suppressing his anger and the lingering bits of fear that resided in the corner of his mind. “It would appear not,” he said carefully, watching Arashi’s face to know if he wanted to have an actual conversation.

Arashi only laughed in response. “Well, I wouldn’t want to keep you all to myself. How about you return back to the group and share with us your miraculous escape story? You know, so we don't make the same mistake twice.”

The thought of returning back to the group that started his trust issues was something that Akaashi most certainly did not want to do. However, he knew he wanted to get as far away from Bokuto as he could. He didn’t want him suffering because of Akaashi’s shady past yet again, so the farther away they got from the back room, the better.

When he got no response, Arashi moved, the impatient man that he is, and grabbed at Akaashi’s arm, wrenching him forward so he was walking in front, the barrel of the gun still clearly pointed at his back. Akaashi was left with little choice but to follow the directions of Arashi.

“I wonder if anyone will be excited to have you back,” Arashi wondered aloud as he tried leading them back to his group. Akaashi had a feeling that he was a little lost, since they didn’t appear to be moving towards the front of the store. “I know I certainly won’t be but you never know, right?”

It really wasn't that big of a store and Akaashi had no idea why they had to walk so slowly. Perhaps he would have a better chance at escaping once he was outside...

“Aw come on,” Arashi whined, poking his gun into Akaashi’s back, causing him to jump slightly. “Not in the talking mood?”

It was difficult to tell if staying silent was the best option but it was the only plan Akaashi had right now.

“You here all by yourself?” Arashi asked and Akaashi could hear the smile in his voice. 

“Yes,” he confirmed, immediately wanting to keep the other out of this. Since he heard no shouting or gunshots, he assumed that the others were hiding and that Arashi and his group had not yet found them. Akaashi desperately wanted it to stay that way.

“That’s surprising,” Arashi snapped, his voice becoming a little angrier. “With the way you charm everyone you meet, I’m shocked you don’t have a whole following behind you.”

This once, Akaashi was glad he was facing forward so that Arashi didn’t see his eyes roll. 

“Kicking you out was the best thing for the group,” Arashi continued. “Once you were gone, Norihiro was finally out from under your spell and he wasn’t obsessed with taking care of just one person.”

“I’m not a witch,” Akaashi couldn’t help but bite out, Arashi’s comment getting the better of him despite his previous vow of silence. “I didn’t ask Norihiro-san to like me or take me in. He made his own decisions.”

He wasn’t expecting the blow to the head, which made the pain much worse. Unable to contain his whimper, he fell forward to his knees, his ears ringing and eyes watering from the hard metal of the gun smashing into his temple. His previous headache was amplified a hundred times over and Akaashi was almost certain he was going to be sick. Hell, he wasn’t positive he was even going to stay conscious.

He could hear Arashi yelling at him -- Norihiro’s liking to Akaashi had always been a sensitive subject for him -- but he couldn’t focus on the words.

Eventually, he glanced up to see the angry man shouting and waving his gun in his face like a complete lunatic. He couldn’t see much through his tears but he was frozen in place, staring at Arashi’s unfounded rage.

“...swear… have put a bullet in you… fucking kill you…!”

The sentences were difficult to make out through his pain but his mind was starting to clear enough that he could recognize that he was being threatened. It was also difficult to miss the shape of a gun directed straight at you.

“Please…” Akaashi rasped, unsure if his words even reached Arashi's ears. While he admittedly didn't have the strongest will to live, he certainly didn't want Suga to stumble upon his body, nor did he want _Karasuno_ to run into these people without having all the information of who they really are. “You don’t have to.”

“You’re right, I probably don’t have to,” Arashi agreed. “I just fucking want to.”

A gunshot rang out and Akaashi flinched horribly as the sound echoed through his mind.

\-----

It was the nicest day he could remember experiencing for a while, the sky not being cloudy and overcast for once. Oikawa felt like he should be enjoying it. He leaned himself out the window of the van, arching his body towards the warmth of the sunlight but he still felt cold.

He sighed heavily as his eyes closed, mind racing with a million different thoughts and plans, but he kept coming back to one in particular. 

To be frank, it was driving him absolutely crazy that he had no idea what was going on with Iwaizumi. His heart ached a thousand times more for every second he spent away from him and it was beginning to gnaw away at his sanity. He inhaled deeply and held his breath, wondering for the millionth time if Iwaizumi was thinking about him too. He smiled to himself. _Still so insecure_ he berated himself. _Iwa-chan would be disappointed._

 _He would be disappointed with you anyways_ another voice told him and Oikawa winced. He knew that too. It was taking them far too long to get back to him -- it had already been around two weeks for God’s sake -- and Oikawa was worried that Iwaizumi would begin to doubt they were coming back for him at all. He scoffed at the mere idea. Oikawa was used to being the insecure one in their relationship, Iwaizumi constantly lectured him and urged him to get better at that, but he was just as bad. _Hypocrite._ He didn’t understand that Oikawa needed him too.

He needed to get back to him so he could assure him that there was no reason for him to be insecure. Oikawa would always come back to him.

The unsettling feeling of eyes on him sent his thought spinning away and when Oikawa opened his eyes, his gaze immediately met Kenma’s.

“What?” he snapped, unable to keep the defensive note out of his voice and turning his head to face the smaller boy head on. 

Kenma just shrugged. “Nothing. Just watching you talk to yourself.”

Oikawa opened his mouth to deny it - he was much more dignified than that - but Kenma had already shifted his gaze back out the window. His cat-like eyes surveyed the area thoroughly, scanning over every corner as he searched for a threat.

Oikawa sighed heavily, which did nothing to draw Kenma’s eyes over to him. He pouted at the lack of reaction. Oikawa didn’t do well with being ignored, so he scooted himself slightly closer, leaving his comfortable, sunny resting place. “So do you always sit out here and keep watch?”

Kenma’s eyes flickered over to him but didn’t linger. He shrugged his narrow shoulders, causing the fabric of his baggy sweater to bunch up around his neck. It made him look even smaller. “Usually.”

“Sounds boring,” Oikawa commented, pulling his one leg up and resting his elbow on his good knee, propping his chin up on his hand. “Wouldn’t you rather be with your friends? Or your boyfriend?”

Kenma glanced over again to meet his gaze. “I don’t really care.”

Oikawa raised an eyebrow. “You’d think with how protective Kuroo-san is over you, he would want you attached to his side the entire time.” When Kenma looked at him in silence, he continued. “I mean, he nearly bit my head off just from looking at you. I would consider it a miracle he let you sit in this truck alone with me.”

“I sit here by myself most of the time,” Kenma offered, his tone not betraying whether he preferred it that way or not.

Oikawa leaned back in surprise at that. It sounds incredibly risky for someone, especially someone as timid as Kenma, to be standing watch on their own. He recovered from his shock quickly though, beaming with a charming smile. “Well then, I guess it’s lucky that I’m here with you today~”

Kenma caught him with a flat stare before speaking. “It makes no difference to me.”

Oikawa wasn’t sure if he meant it as an insult but he decided to take offence. Gasping dramatically made Kenma roll his eyes at him but it didn’t stop Oikawa from continuing to make conversation with him.

“How incredibly rude,” he mumbled. There was a voice in the back of his head that told him Iwaizumi would have laughed at that and, due to that, he was unable to put much feeling behind the words.

He startled as another thought occurred to him that made guilt begin to swirl in his gut. He bit his lip at he stared at Kenma again. 

“I know Kuroo-san doesn’t like me,” he started, gaining Kenma’s attention at the mention of Kuroo’s name. “And I certainly didn’t help my case today, by making him so uneasy but…” Oikawa trailed off awkwardly and only continued after he felt like he was losing Kenma’s interest. “You’re not, like, afraid of me or anything, are you? Because of what I said?” Oikawa rushed out his question, a little embarrassed by how flustered he was asking.

“No.”

All of Oikawa’s embarrassment dissolved into vague annoyance at the one word answer and rather impersonal answer. Oikawa could be scary if he wanted to be. He was tall and intimidating and had killed his fair share of zombies during the past few months. Although, he supposed he was relieved that Kenma wasn’t afraid of him or anything ridiculous like that. 

“Well, good,” he said, somewhat awkwardly but that was all Kenma’s fault -- his lack of responses made conversation difficult to hold. “Because I wasn’t serious or anything. I’m not here to hurt anyone.”

“Okay.”

“...You’re not very talkative, are you?” Oikawa grumbled, more to himself, not expecting to get an answer. However, Kenma’s ears still caught the comment. “Sorry.”

Oikawa gave him a small smile. “Do not apologize my small friend,” he sighed, rolling his neck to stretch it out. He leaned forward to be closer in order to whisper “I talk enough for the both of us.”

Kenma gave a soft snort at that and Oikawa’s smile grew. He was about to bring up another topic of conversation, just for something to keep his mind occupied, when the sound of distant rumbling reached his ears. 

Narrowing his eyes, Oikawa followed the trail of the road and was horrified to see a line of cars getting closer to their position by the second. 

“Kenma,” he hissed, but Kenma had already noticed. Jumping up, he wrenched the doors of the van closed, ducking down until just his eyes peeked over to see out the tinted window. Oikawa followed suit, sinking down beside Kenma in order to get a view out of the windows. The way he was crouching was putting strain on his knee and it was hurting like a bitch but he refused to move. _Iwa-chan would be angry at me._ Gritting his teeth against the pain, he watched with sharp eyes as the cars pulled into the very parking lot they were camped out in.

Reaching down, Kenma grasped at his belt and fumbled with his walkie-talkie, raising it up to his mouth to speak into while Oikawa kept a watch on the movement of the newcomers. 

“Kuro,” Kenma mumbled into the receiver. “A bunch of cars just pulled into the parking lot.”

The receiver crackled with static before Kuroo’s voice blared out of it. “ _What? Are you alright Kitten?”_

Kenma scoffed and rolled his eyes and Oikawa found it difficult not to do the same. “What do you mean ‘Am I okay?” That’s not the point. This is a ‘you’ problem.”

 _”Where are they now?”_ Kuroo asked, voice tight with stress. If Oikawa didn’t dislike the guy so much, he’d feel really bad for him. However, where Kuroo was, that meant Akaashi and Suga were close by and worry for their well-being began to build. It escalated as a movement caught the corner of his eyes and he clenched his teeth.

“Kenma,” Oikawa mumbled, gaining his attention as he pointed to the group of people. “Look.”

Kenma’s eyes widened as he followed the movements of the newcomers, who had now pulled into the parking lot and exited their vehicles. “They look like they’re heading inside the store,” he mumbled to Kuroo. “But they don’t appear to be in any rush, so you have some time.”

 _“Fuck,”_ Kuroo cursed over the receiver. _“Fuck Kitten, what do we do? Bo and Akaashi aren’t with us?”_

“What?!” Oikawa couldn’t help but exclaim. “What the hell do you mean?” He had grown to like Akaashi quite a lot during their time together and he knew Iwaizumi really enjoyed his company as well. While Oikawa got a long better with Suga, being able to flirt and joke around much easier, Iwaizumi and Akaashi had taken to sitting in silence and sharing glances. If Akaashi got hurt because of these idiots, Oikawa was no going to be very happy.

Kenma shushed him with a silent glare. While Oikawa wasn’t exactly _afraid_ of Kenma, he realized he fucked up a little bit and lowered his voice for his next question. “Where the hell is he?” 

“ _Could you relax?”_ Kuroo snapped, obviously overhearing Oikawa’s exclamation. “ _He went with Bo to go find other supplies.”_

Oikawa narrowed his eyes, although the effect was lost because Kuroo couldn’t actually see him. “Let me talk to Suga-chan.”

“ _Fuck you,”_ Kuroo spat. “ _I have to figure this shit out. You can hold tight while we figure out a goddamn plan.”_

Oikawa gritted his teeth. All anyone wanted him to do was sit there while they figure out a plan. Nobody wanted to _act_ or take charge of the situation. No, they were too busy sitting there _thinking._ Well, Oikawa was tired of it. This was the same reason that he hadn’t been reunited with Iwaizumi yet. All Suga and Akaashi wanted to do was wait and scheme and plan. Ugh. Oikawa was so sick of it.

A pair of golden eyes distracted him from his anger.

“Kuro’s going to try to find them,” Kenma explained softly, eyes flickering between Oikawa and the men outside the window, who had now paused to have a conversation. They were all loud and obnoxious, not looking as though they had a care in the world for the potential danger that surrounded them. 

It pissed Oikawa right off.

Here he was, cowering inside a van with a stupid injury from a stupid accident caused by a stupid man who thought he had the right to control everyone and everything. Oikawa wasn’t one for sitting on the sidelines, always preferring to be front and centre, right in the middle of the action. He had half a mind to burst out of this van and do… _something._ Anything to make him feel like he wasn’t absolutely and completely useless.

If Iwaizumi were here…

His eyes squeezed his eyes shut as that particular thought materialized in his mind for the millionth time. He really had to find a way to measure his self-worth without relying on Iwaizumi to reassure him over every little thing. But this just solidified the fact that he was a complete waste of space. Couldn’t be there for Iwaizumi. Couldn’t be there for Suga and Akaashi. Couldn’t even be there for himself.

He was suddenly dragged out of his self-hatred spiral as Kenma’s voice sounded quietly. “Kuroo. They’re heading inside. And they’re armed.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Listen I headcanon Tanaka is absolutely nuts and would get along so well with Bokuto
> 
> Y'all concussions suck and I'm using my own complaints about the headaches that come with that as reference so yikes the poor lad
> 
> This chapter has been edited to hell and back and I'm sorry I always end with these dumb kind of cliff hangers but this chapter would have been super fuckin long if I kept going so I felt like I should cut it off
> 
> I know Akaashi's back story is real vague but that'll be all cleared up soon so hopefully that's not off putting 
> 
> I refuse to make any comment on when I'll get the next chapter up by because clearly I suck at sticking to schedules, but I do hope it'll be a little better no that I'm out of school and my job is boring 
> 
> As always Thank You! all so much for any comments, kudos, etc. on this fic, it's so nice!
> 
> Until next time <3


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